New Strength
by kkstev
Summary: Her life is not easy.  But she is strong... sort of.  She is willing to work to change, but it just will take a few tries to get it right.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Naruto, but the new plot is my own.

**New Strength**

kkstev

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

She had _everything_. It was all a blur – her life before and leading up to this moment. There had to have been work, strain, and effort that she believed were probably worth every second to get _here_.

But she could not remember any of those little details right now.

All that mattered was _this_. This moment where everything settled, calming her once-frantic mind, and she realized that she made it. She achieved every single thing she had ever strived for. How many people could really say that? From her perch, she overlooked everything that was her own, that she had made, and stood triumphantly, taking in the scene with pride.

… But then what was that darkness in the distance?

It was agitated and erratically progressing slowly toward her current position, a physical mass that she could not explain. All of the things she had been observing with accomplishment were literally swallowed before her very eyes. And once this unknown force consumed them, she forgot what had been there before it was gone.

The girl who thought she had everything suddenly panicked, latching onto her temples with both hands and crouching in on herself, trying with everything she had to just _remember_. She alternated agitatedly between clenching her eyes shut tightly and staring blankly at the darkness creeping closer.

By the time she finally dragged herself from her own fear, to stand tall and confront this demon head on, everything she once had was lost. Her emerald eyes were gleaming, partially from anger and partially from an early coating of unshed tears, as her mid-back length pink hair whipped around her form furiously. She took a deep breath – hoping with everything she had that it would not be her last – as the darkness approached her. But just before it made contact, the world around her went blurry, and Haruno Sakura felt herself falling backwards through the air as she lost consciousness.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

She woke, throwing her arms out as though trying to brace herself from a fall. Realizing she was steady, Sakura threw her torso forward to sit with such violence while gasping desperately that her room spun angrily in retaliation. Holding her head with one hand, closing her eyes, Sakura tried to calm herself. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt as though it shook her entire chest, and she felt tiny heartbeats at the ends of each of her limbs. Each tortured breath was so inconsistent and shallow she feared she may hyperventilate. Besides the fact that she felt as though she was prepared to vomit.

'_Seriously, what the _fuck_ was that?'_

After nearly twenty minutes of just frantically repeating this thought, sometimes whispering it to herself out loud, Sakura felt calm. Well, calm_er_ at least. Throwing herself back onto her pillows, she sighed and closed her eyes, trying to force sleep to return to her.

But she was finding it impossible to stop thinking about that dream – or at least what she hoped was only a completely random manifestation of thoughts or fears. Not being one to dream, or remember dreams, very often, Sakura had a tendency to believe what she did recall when awake was significant in some way. A memory she had forgotten or repressed, a prediction of the future, a warning, _something_. The events she was focused on now, along with the feeling of finally finding home, certainly never happened in her past, meaning the remaining options…

She shivered at the implications, suddenly feeling that the calmness of the night had become more menacing. Rapidly discomfited, she quietly folded back her blankets and proceeded to the kitchen for a glass of water, ignoring her dog's irritated grunt at her for waking him.

Maybe this had something to do with her stressful day.

Immediately before bed, Sakura had been thinking about everything that had happened, and everything she wanted. She had stared at the ceiling of her room for hours, tucked under her covers in an attempt to sleep. Starting by longing to get out of the village of Sengaku. Though highly aware of herself for a girl her age, she had no way of getting out of the suffocating village. She could envision where she longed to be. At fourteen, she was conscious of the fact that there was nothing entirely special about her, which was both sad and comforting. Besides her hair color of course – bubblegum pink, but this one physical attribute doesn't count. It was that there was nothing about her as a person – which _is_ important – that was unique. The concept of each individual being special and important was developed for fairy tales. Some were great, and most were not. She, for one, was not; average intelligence, average looks, average social skills, average family, average life, average, average, average…

'_This had to be why my thoughts manifested in such a messed up way.' _Because she hated this.

She didn't know _why_ she hated her life so much. Everyone around her seemed utterly satisfied with their expensive clothes, meaningless chatter, and frankly shudder-inducing forms of entertainment. This normality was fine for them, yet she was just so dissatisfied – even if she had any of those things, she couldn't imagine them ever being _her_.

But what's still eating at her; what had happened today? Was it even real? She supposed so. She 'officially' had no friends, all because she could not keep her mouth shut. Was it _her_ fault that that Kouhi was a rude, mean, manipulative, and generally bad person? That Kouhi lost all of _her_ friends, for these exact reasons, and so decided to take over _Sakura's_? Sakura figured that she _could have_ just let it happen and followed along with all of her other 'friends.' Then proceed to join them in trailing Kouhi like a pack of lost puppies.

Kouhi _was _more popular than them after all.

Well, at least that's one thing she can take some pride in about herself. She has a _spine_. Nice, but gets her nowhere for the moment. This village is all about how close you can snuggle up to peoples asses.

"Ugh" Sakura ground out, hanging her head as she stared down at the sink. Time to scratch off the 'average' next to social skills and scribble in 'poor.' Though she still didn't fully understand that either. She really did go out of her way to do the right thing by everyone, to be nice to everyone, to be _good_. Regardless of what type of person they were themselves. But apparently it was not enough.

Trying to lighten her own mood, she actually giggled to herself, running a hand though messy hair. _'Guess we're going all "Woe is me! My life, my life!" I sound like a poorly scripted soap opera. Just standing here brooding, pitying myself. Geez I just need real life to start already.'_

Her thoughts progressively began to make her feel much better – to lessen the actual blow she was feeling for the here and now. But this easeing began to ebb away once her mother shuffled into the room in her nightclothes. Sakura looked over her shoulder from her place by the counter, and tried to smile for her mother's comfort. It definitely did not come out right, but Ayaka didn't say anything. After a few moments of silence, Sakura's forced smile wavered. Once she failed to mask the slight extra buildup of water in her eyes, she turned her head away again.

"That good, huh?" Her mother sighed. "What did you do sweetie?" She asked in a calming voice while moving to sit at the table. Sakura could not help the single tear that fell. She liked that she stood up for herself, and even that she can see the bit of morbid humor in her situation. She can be as proud of her reaction as she would like, but in the end, being alone, in this moment, just _hurts_.

Subtly wiping away the tear, she sat down beside her mother, whispering, "Why do you assume it was me?" With still no response, she continued somewhat hesitantly, "I don't like Kouhi, I never did, and I never hid it from anyone. I just never snuck around behind her back like everyone else does! It's not like I was even mean, I was just being reasonable! I don't want her to ruin my friends... They'll no doubt end up exactly like her." Sakura was deliberate and careful with each word, trying to keep her voice from betraying how hurt she really was.

"Either way, I did _not_ expect a note taped to the door of my _home_ telling me that I am simply 'out' of my only group of friends…" Sakura paused, looked down, and her voice came out more quietly, "In my supposed 'best friend's' handwriting no less. Heh," she ended breathily. Shaking her head incredulously while furrowing her eyebrows in thought, she continued, "I mean, really, who _does_ that?"

In a voice still quiet and gentle, her mother asked, "But couldn't you just _try_ to play nice? I know you don't like others very much, but Kouhi seems perfectly nice to me –"

Sakura cut her off, trying to ignore what her mother 'knew' and focus on the real problem, "Of course she would, okaa-san. To _you_. She knows how to get her way. For me and most people my age, she acts however she pleases, and her money makes her friends. And her looks, I guess, if you're a really dumb boy. But I mean, that's not gonna to work if, to all the people she can get something from, she acts like a complete bitch." And as soon as that last word escaped her lips, in her overly emotional and bigmouthed state, she realized her mistake. The sharp sting at her mouth reminded her that her mother would not let her only daughter's cussing slide, regardless of the situation. It was improper for a lady, apparently.

Sakura took a deep breath, shuddering somewhat on the exhale, as a few more tears slipped out through tightly sealed eyes. It wasn't the pain that did it, but the embarrassment of being reprimanded over something silly – the absolutely horrible timing didn't help much either.

"You should know better! No wonder you get yourself into these situations! You're lucky this time it was me, who cannot leave you even if I wanted to." Her mother scolded, ending in a little huff.

Leveling her voice, Sakura droned out, "I understand, okaa-san, thank you for talking to me. I think I'm just gonna go back to sleep now." Sakura almost laughed out loud at how normal her voice sounded, so calm and obedient. But in reality she kept her eyes lowered, hoping her highly subtle dismissal would get her some time alone. What she originally intended.

That way, she could continually to peacefully pull out the knife her mother just pushed in deeper.

"Alright then, I will see you in the morning. Goodnight Sakura. It'll get better, don't worry."

Sakura just waited with her lips pressed in a thin line as her mother lightly kissed the top of her head and exited. She waited a few moments, making sure there would be no new unwanted appearances, before she clenched her fists harshly and ground her teeth together. Gripping her head tightly in both hands familiarly, she wanted to cry, to scream, to beat something until it shattered. But she didn't want the hassle of having someone else come by.

Though she knew that of course most fourteen year olds were oblivious to how life worked, but she was still a _person_. Her family _should_ have some idea about her. She had coherent, rational thoughts of her own. Never did anything wrong, did what she had to do, knew what she wanted to do with her life, and knew (kind of) how to get it. She acted more like an adult than the actual adults in her life more often than not. It was just a matter of time before her age fit her attitude. But even now, she did _not_ need to be scolded like a child.

Making her way back to her own room with stiff steps and foggy vision, she took a deep breath, trying to calm her harsh breathing. A familiar mantra started again in her mind.

'It's _just another day._

_Just another day._

_Just another day._

_Just ano – Kami-sama there has to be something more than this.'_

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

**You may not know:**

okaa-san : mother


	2. Sixteen

Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Naruto, but the new plot is my own.

**New Strength**

kkstev

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Today was the day. Her sixteenth birthday. Sakura smiled, opening her eyes to the morning light peeking through her shades. She got out of bed, washed and dressed for the day, and collected her books. She walked downstairs to hear her mother slamming things around in the kitchen and quietly cursing about something new her father did. '_Hypocrite. And so early in the morning, too,'_ she thought mockingly as she headed toward the door, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone.

She walked through the dusty streets, earlier than teenagers normally would for school. But that suited her just fine – she did not exactly love her peers anyway. But she smiled lightly at the children she passed, waiting impatiently for their mothers outside their homes in need of accompaniment to their destinations. They would whine and stomp their feet, but would then quickly be distracted by something more interesting to hold their attention before being scooped up lovingly into their mothers' arms.

She wondered if she was ever like that. If her mother was ever like that without the strings attached. Was there ever a time when she was carefree, when she _wasn't _so serious?

Definitely not willing to dwell on this thought, she inhaled deeply with closed eyes as she kept walking slowly, listening intently to the soft chirping of the birds just waking up. She saw the details of the early morning street passing her by with the sounds alone, her soft footfalls marking the time methodically. The air was crisp and clean so early, the time where spring is melting into summer. There was plenty of sunshine to caress her skin with warmth, accompanied by a comforting breeze to keep back the real summer temperatures. This morning felt like a good one, which in and of itself was so rare. So why ruin it with her regular life?

Sakura opened her eyes, looking around quickly and realizing just how far she had gone. She turned her head to look down the road that led to her school.

'_Pft, I have _so _got better things to do,' _she inwardly scoffed and just kept walking.

She stopped at a stall that was just getting ready for the morning rush, and picked up a bento box with a simple lunch. She opened her wallet that she learned to always keep on her, revealing the multitude of bills she had earned. _'Hard work pays off, literally,'_ she thought as her lips quirked slightly at her own joke. The expression quickly dissipated as she frowned and furrowed her eyebrows, realizing there were quite a few bills missing. On the bright side, she had plenty of money for today.

Nodding resolutely, Sakura paid, then continued up the road and out of the village. Barely any bothered to look as she walked by, so used to seeing her figure exiting Sengaku. They saw a rather ordinary villager going about her regular life. She wore plain clothing, none too fitted, muted in their colors. Her mid-back length hair was braided tight to her head, though a wide brimmed hat mainly covered it her careful work. The traditional bamboo served a dual purpose, shielding a large part of her face from the sun as well as from the rest of the world. Most figured – of those to even took the trouble to – that by her way of dressing coupled with her almost daily morning exits from the village borders, she was a traveling merchant of some sort. She appeared to be the fully-grown adult that she was since a young age as she walked leisurely by.

Everything in Sengaku was tightly packed, and the closeness of the surrounding villages was no exception. Sakura took a path she had never taken before, which became more possible the farther away from her village that she went. Passing through a few more villages, she still got hardly any looks from passerbys, simply being too plain to catch their notice.

This was her time to reflect. Her name: Haruno Sakura. She is sixteen years old today and absolutely hates her life, currently. But the thought makes her smirk, knowing exactly what that meant – that it will get better. Right now, there is no place to go but up - or as she liked to think, forward. It is really nothing more than the fact that she is alone. She still has no friends – or at least none that would not be willing to hurt her if presented an opportunity where it could benefit them, nor idolized her for being something she is clearly not. So, no friends. She has a pathetic excuse for a family. Though there are times when they genuinely try, they love to know the best ways to rip at her feelings or her pride, and try to put her down whenever she shows promise for success greater than their own – which was becoming a more and more frequent occurrence.

'_The future is mine to make, but right now is right now. Dramatic or not, it still sucks.'_

And, while still looking down, her face in shadow to the world, she cannot help but let slip a true smile.

She also knows how to hold tightly and covet her determination, her drive, her pure _wanting_ for success. Haruno Sakura knows independence, personal strength, and self-reliance. She does not have to lean on others for support, or for help. Her frustration throughout the beginning years of her life has made her who she is at this very moment.

A person she is truly happy to be.

Which is something no one can take from her.

At her resolute thoughts – the only things that can bring this reaction out in her – Sakura looked up to the sky and smiled brightly, her eyes shining, reflecting the hope and promise of all the world that she can see in its beautiful blue depths. She took a deep breath and just relished in the moment.

The jerk of her head that revealed her face, and the sincerity and hope in the emotion found there once exposed, caused a quite a few heads to turn toward her. She ignored them all, savoring in the genuine moment she took to herself. The moment she deserved. The moment that kept her sane. The moment that kept her _moving_.

But that moment, always so short, was quickly up, and she felt the stares, hating the attention. Blushing, she looked towards her feet again, until a shiver ran down her spine. She knew that she still had more attention on her than was appreciated. But something was different about the intensity of what she felt boring past her protective hair and hat.

Looking up slowly through the stray strands of hair that fell to her face after her sudden movement to protect herself, she subtly scanned the people whose attention she had. But when she tilted her head left and saw them, she knew instantly they were the main source of her discomfort.

The three boys never faltered in their progress in the opposite direction of her as she caught their eyes, they just continued walking. They never even moved their heads. But she immediately wished to break eye contact, and so she looked down again quickly.

Her analysis was not very thorough, but interesting enough. One looked about her age, the other two definitely somewhat older. They all wore loose black pants and black shirts with some sort of netting underneath. They had dark, matching marks on the skin of their left arms peeking out of the bottom of their short sleeved shirts, the full shape of which she could not make out. All of them wore fingerless gloves and carried traveling packs. From what she could still see while avoiding their faces, they were very nondescript.

But there was something different about their movement. Or maybe it was their overall presence? It was all just so _perfect_. The view was more than that though, and was so difficult to describe. Their aura, if there was such a thing, was somehow different. And never before had she noticed something like this, though she felt like she wasn't supposed to. Which of course is why it interested her so much. _'But why would I even waste the thought on them? I will admit_ _that I _may_ have noticed that they seem... fit' _Here she paused, laughing inwardly at her sad attempt to hide from her own teenage hormones, _'Okay, they're pretty cute, but "_Perfect?" _Really… that might be a bit much. Regardless, I'll probably never see them again in my life, so why waste any part of it on them?'_ Sakura thought, shaking her head slightly in an attempt to brush off the incident.

That was all of the information the glance had to offer her, and she didn't care enough to dwell on it. Taking a few more steps, she almost wiped her strange thoughts about the curious boys completely. Because, of course, she had places to go.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Each of the boys could not help but refocus their attention on her, the movement was so sudden, and the girl was _curious_ after all. The little civilian girl was probably daydreaming about some crush as she fixed her clear emerald eyes towards the sky. Nothing of significance. But still, they watched her as she realized exactly what she had done, attempted to ridiculously hide in plain sight, before cautiously looking up to notice them.

She had noticed them, picked them out of the crowd. _That_ was definitely not okay, and not normal. Possibly not safe.

Before they had time to think about this, never mind act on it, she blushed faintly, and finally shook her head slightly. Her eyes turned forward again with determination, not bothering to look back. No remaining worries about her being dangerous at least.

The two older boys felt their initial assumption about her thoughts were quite possibly incorrect. The passing girl was probably more interesting than she seemed. Whatever the case, all three pairs of dark eyes followed her until they could no longer watch without turning their heads. But this girl definitely did not leave their thoughts even once she left their sight.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Sakura was walking for a couple of hours before she decided to veer off the road. She preferred places that weren't so _busy_. So, after passing by the bustling villages, she ended up on roads used more for distance traveling rather than daily life. Once there, she made sure that it had been a solid thirty minutes since she passed home or person. That was when she finally thought it safe to stray from the path and into the forests her country was known for.

Being familiar with wooded areas and knowing them as though they were a second home are two _very_ different things. Sakura had always been fonder of the forest than city, and so sought to spend time there, but she _lived_ in a place that was more like a city. It was inevitable that she spend less time in the woods, which also meant that she was never formally taught anything about survival. And this was something she would not willingly choose to learn through experience.

So once she stepped through the tree line, Sakura made sure she went no further into the woods than being just out of sight of the road. She found a nice clearing at this safe distance, with enough space to move around easily while still providing privacy from the surrounding trees.

Setting her school bag and hat down in the grass, Sakura sat down on a fairly flat rock with a large exhale, slumping down while closing her eyes. Lying back, she was surprised at how cool the stone was for being in a spot that the sun was hitting through the canopy of trees.

Coming to the decision that the feeling was comforting, she let her back, which had arched out of reflex, relax down onto the rock's surface. She sat still momentarily to just listen to the area around her. Things were fairly quiet, but after a few minutes of her sitting still, the woods began to come back to life around her.

She heard the birds begin to call out quietly again, though not as vigorously as they had in the early morning. Small tree limbs began to move lightly above her head, the heavy whisper of leaves initially indistinguishable from that caused by the wind. But before long she began to hear the chattering of squirrels as they tried to outdo each other with their acrobatics. When they tired of that, there were a brave few that descended from the trees to the forest floor. After exploring for a few moments closer to earth than usual, there was a sharp rustling of the bushes near Sakura's head, followed by a squeak of terror as a fox shot out from its hiding place after the squirrel. Leaping and dodging, crashing through the underbrush, the squirrel created an enormous racket. Finally back up in the safety of the trees, there was new, angry chatter followed by a low growl as the fox stalked away from its intended lunch.

And Sakura was able to see all of this without ever even opening her eyes. Things in this place were so simple, so cut and dry. But never boring – events may be similar, but never the same. There was a strange comfort in that. Life and death, light and dark, quiet and loud... Things _can_ change, and _do_ change, both slightly and drastically.

Breathing deeply, Sakura reveled in the freshness of the air entering her lungs. It was purifying, even more so with the scent of pine and pollen that lingered with the air. Heck, with a deep enough breath, she _tasted_ these things on the back of her tongue. It was just so natural, so _right_.

Then the contrast of the ever-cool stone at her back and the still-pleasant sun at her front, combined with the warm breeze at her sides, completed her state of utter relaxation. After what felt like just a few minutes of just allowing herself up to take all of this in and remember it, Sakura opened her eyes and blinked a few times until they adjusted to the brightness of the sun that was now above her.

Realizing just how high the sun was, she blinked a few more times, looking up through the canopy of trees. _'I'm no expert at telling the time from the sun's position, but it seems like it's close to noon... I must've been laying here for longer than I had thought.'_ The only emotion to accompany that thought was surprise. But Sakura quickly realized that this happened almost every time she wanders out to the forest for peace. _'I really have to watch that! I can't keep letting that much time slip by while I'm here!'_ She mentally scolded herself.

Brushing off the few bugs that decided to take an interest in her, Sakura sat up and reached for her bag. She quickly ate the dumplings she bought earlier. Finishing, she opened her bag again, her eyes scanned over the many books and scrolls that were in there. She was anxious to get to the books – they were her favorite – but she knew the scrolls had to come first.

School was a joke to Sakura, though it was apparently a humorless one that no one else seemed to get. The lessons were so extremely easy, but that may have also been partially due to her gender. Though school in her village was required for all until graduation at eighteen, it seemed more like 'Housewife Prep Course 101'. Most of it at least. But Sakura in _no_ way planned on being a simple housewife, popping out children for some pompous jerk for the rest of her life!

Not like she _couldn't_ though – she was actually quite good at, as well as accustomed to, doing housework, as well as caring for people. She had to do it at home all the time.

It was more just the _principle_ of the thing. There was so much she wanted to accomplish, so much more she wanted to do with her life, wanted to see, wanted to try! She couldn't imagine looking back on her life, not having done anything _real_. Unfortunately though, none of this could happen without finishing school in Sengaku first. Getting back on track with some effort, she followed her mental list of priorities. Sakura pulled out the first scroll, a book for reference, and a few writing utensils, got comfortable, and set to work.

Even though she didn't particularly see it as a necessity to attend school regularly, she still knew that the work assigned there had to be completed so she would be allowed to move forward. Along with the extra work assigned due to her regular absence. Sakura felt her lips quirk slightly at that.

Most of her teachers liked her – she was a top-notch student (besides the whole attendance thing), highly respectful to her elders and, somehow, even her peers. She abided by most of the rules set by the school (once again, disregarding absences), and always completed her work on time.

It was the principal that had quite a few issues with her, or so she thought. Every time Sakura did actually come to school, she was summoned to the office. And every time Sakura would calmly point out that she thought her time would better be spent in class, seeing that she was present, rather than in the office. This always started these meetings off so _very_ well. Sakura would just calmly sit in the uncomfortable chair opposite the 'intimidating' principal's desk...

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

**Flashback**

"I assume you understand exactly _why_ you are here?" he paused, leaning one hand on the desk from his standing position, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, growling out, "_Again._"

Sakura simply looked up at the intimidatingly large, muscular bald man and nodded, "I do, sir, but seeing as I am here today I would much rather be in class. I have assignments that I want to make sure are handed in and a few exams to make up."

"Well, _that_ would not be such an issue if you attended those classes as _frequently_ as you are _supposed to._"

This time, Sakura just regarded him quietly. She was surprised he was able to speak at all without unclenching his teeth. But he had not asked her a direct question, and so she thought it best not to answer. _'Besides, this guy believes in the whole "women should not speak unless spoken to" crap. I don't want him to think I'm _trying _to be sassy, and would really prefer to get this over with quickly. Besides, I might get into actual_ _trouble this time, despite my good marks, if I'm not careful.'_

The principal sighed, rubbing his eyes as though he had a migraine, as he sat down in his luxurious chair. He rested his elbows on the desk as he continued to massage his temples. Sakura was not sure of exactly where this was going, as normally the principal went with the 'Constant anger, show no weakness!' approach to these sessions. While she waited for him to say something, Sakura's thoughts began to wander, _'I bet the big fancy chair for him and the small crappy chair for the visitor is both for intimidation and to show superiority. Pft, if you want respect, ya gotta give some to get some, buddy.'_

When he started to speak, he snapped Sakura back to the present, and she began to feel somewhat sorry for her previous thoughts: he decided to take this moment to show some compassion.

"Why? Why is it that you just do not come? We have been meeting for months now, and from what I can deduce you are not getting into trouble nor are you involved in anything dangerous inside or outside these walls." Here he opened a file that had been sitting on his desk and quickly scanned it. "Your grades are excellent. Your teachers mainly praise you and have nothing but good things to say." Closing the file, he looked up at Sakura again. "In my office, you are pleasant and to-the-point. Always calm but also very aware. You frustrate me to no end…" At this, Sakura blushed slightly and looked down to the floor while he continued more gently than before, "But you are a good kid, very kind and caring. Sharp too. If you would actually come here, maybe even get involved, you would be a tremendous asset to this school, one that I can brag about to future students."

Sakura's eyes shot up, looking back and forth between the eyes of the principal staring back at her, looking for some sign of deception, some _hint_ of attempted manipulation. She had not realized that during all of these meetings he had been studying her so closely. He had deduced things about her on his own, beyond what her daily teachers note, beyond what she thought she showed. And for the most part, though his statements were vague, they were also accurate.

She studied the man for a moment longer, still searching for any sign of any emotion. If he knew this much about her already, he may know that she had the embarrassing tendency to be overly eager to please. His compliment may have just been a ploy to get her to comply with his wishes.

As if he thought she were plotting against him, and realizing he may have given her the upper hand in such a situation by his honest words, his eyes hardened and his arms crossed as he leaned back into his chair. "Well, do you plan on answering?" He snapped out at her, looking straight down his nose.

Surprised, Sakura was lost for words momentarily. "Uh…" She took a moment to focus and regroup, looking aimlessly around the room. What was that question again? Oh, right, that one…

Apparently her answer was not quick enough, because he added, "It's not even like you are lazy and sitting around or sleeping at home! We had someone check a few times, and you weren't even there! Where could you possibly go for so many hours at a time?"

At this Sakura's jaw clenched. _'So _that's _how my parents found out! I knew they would never bother to snoop on their own.'_ Sighing in defeat, she realized, _'It's too late now though, regardless of the source. They already have the idea in their heads.'_

"So _why_?"

Never one to lie, Sakura figured there was no way out of this one. He was adamant for an answer this time. She would just choose to ignore his question of her whereabouts, keeping her one place of peace to herself, and hopefully keep him focused on the why. She figured it was the lesser of the two evils. "I just don't like being here," she began quietly, "I go through hours upon hours learning material I already know or don't care about, doing busy work that I can finish in minutes, pushing through every moment of the day with people that I don't even want to talk to or be around."

'_Not like I could even if_ _I wanted to.' _she silently added on to the end.

But the principal did not seem to be in an understanding mood, as he didn't really _listen_ to what she had been saying. Not that she had really wanted him to, as she was careful with her wording and her tone. "So you are just too good for my school, huh? Above all of us, just a regular, run-of-the-mill genius, superior to the world I suppose?"

Before he could continue with his rant, Sakura quickly cut in, being careful only to do so at the end of his sentence. "There is nothing wrong with your institution, sir. It is just that…" Taking a deep breath, she said the statement she never uttered to anyone outside the family. They had laughed at her, so why wouldn't he? "I wish to study medicine, and there is none of that taught here. I have to go outside these walls for that." And her eyes glued themselves to some random knick-knack on his desk.

Red faced and stopping mid-rant, the principal looked down at her. He had not even realized that he had stood. Habit, he supposed. He regarded her seriously, thinking back over everything he has seen, and everything he knew about her. He had not witnessed it often, a female in the medical field beyond the status of a nurse, the one _aiding_ the true doctor. He considered his next words seriously before he responded.

"Do you think you can do that, and succeed?"

Fierce green eyes met his own, determination and confidence reflecting back at him. Without hesitation, in a sure and steady voice to match her unwavering expression, she simply replied, "Yes, I do."

Turning around and shuffling around some random papers on the cabinet behind him for something to do, he smiled. He released the tension in his shoulders slightly. There were _some _cases of great female doctors, and they tended to surpass many in their field. He thought this girl might just be able do what she claimed, if, of course, she held onto that burning dedication and her (admittedly) near-genius intelligence.

Trying to keep some anger in his voice, with his back still turned, he simply said, "Fine then. If you are going to be some fancy doctor, what are you wasting time in my office for? I better not see you in here again."

Taking that as a dismissal, Sakura stood up slowly, uncertain of how smoothly that had gone. But still she gathered her things, and began to walk towards the door.

"Oh, and Haruno," the principal called out as her hand touched the doorknob. He sat back down and began writing at his desk, waiting for her to turn around.

"Sir?"

"Since you find the work here so easy, I will be assigning you extra, outside your regular classes. You can pick it up with the secretary up front at the end of the day." He paused for effect, trying to force down his smile, but at his next words, he failed somewhat, letting some of it show through. "Each and _every_ time you find yourself in my office."

Realizing what had just happened, Sakura smiled softly as well. "I understand, sir. But you may want to assign me double today, so I can get ahead." The principal looked up and quirked an eyebrow. "I will be missing classes tomorrow as well."

"And _why_ may I ask, will you be excusing yourself tomorrow?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly, and voice becoming rougher again.

"Well, tomorrow is my birthday," and she smiled wickedly, adding, "plus, I believe I feel the flu coming on."

Eyes widening faintly at her sincerity and her freely displayed banter, he replied in a gruff voice, beginning to scribble at some work on his desk and playing along, "Well then, be sure to drink plenty of fluids and get lots of rest."

It was now time for Sakura's eyes to widen, and the smile to be wiped off her face to be replaced by a look of shock. She once again turned to leave when, once again, she was stopped after touching the doorknob.

"And Haruno," Sakura almost sighed out loud, looking down at the shiny doorknob accusingly, _'What is this thing, a damn buzzer? This may have been one of the more pleasurable visits in here, but still, this is getting old now…'_

"Happy birthday – enjoy it."

'…_Well what do you know, maybe he did actually hear me.'_

**End Flashback**

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Sakura smiled down at the now-complete scroll she was holding.

When she had gone at the end of the day to pick up the extra work yesterday, she found that her principal had assigned her all medical-related research. Well, sort of. For now, she was to get information about where there is medical training offered in all of the five major countries, as well as how to be eligible to be taught at these places.

It wasn't due until next week, but Sakura thought she might just drop it off for him tomorrow. She also thought it best to put a note on it that she would be most grateful if it were returned for future reference.

Satisfied, Sakura picked up the next scroll – her regular schoolwork – and set to finishing it.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

A few hours later, done with all of her schoolwork for the remainder of the week, Sakura stretched until her joints popped. Satisfied with herself, she thought it was time for a reward.

'_Novel time!'_ She thought excitedly as she jumped to her bag and dug through it. Another one of her favorite times of the day was when she was able to lose herself in a story. In someone else's tale of tragedy, humor, mystery, romance – anything really was fine by her.

It was difficult to find a good time to read at home, because she was constantly interrupted for one reason or another. And some of the novelty _('Pun not originally intended, but, seeing as it works, it's intended now!'_ she inwardly giggled) was lost with disruptions. You just never fall as hard into the world you are reading about the second time you try to pick it up after being thrust momentarily back into real life.

Reveling in the time ahead, Sakura settled down and began to read.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Only when the sun began to set and extinguish her light source did Sakura decide to close up her book and begin to pack away her things. Standing up, settling her pack and resetting her clothes, she looked up to the sky that was masked by trees once more before she began to leave her secluded spot.

'_Being able to actually see those few individual rays of sunlight, strong enough to fight their way through the leaves of the trees at the end of the day, always seems so symbolic'_ Sakura thought, taking a last look behind her into the forest before fully stepping back onto the road.

She suddenly snorted mid-step with a smile playing at her lips. _'What am I, a philosopher now? I can't even think of what it could possibly symbolize… I think I am definitely starting to read too many cheesy novels. Besides, philosophy doesn't exactly go well with medicine. Hmm, lets ponder for three years about whether this procedure is the right thing to do… oh well now! The patient seems to have died at some point during our pondering! We should ponder on _that _so that we may understand its _meaning _for the future!'_ Unable to contain herself, she began to giggle quietly at her own train of thought.

But still, for some reason, that vision refused to leave her thoughts completely.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

**You may not know:**

bento box : travel container for food


	3. Unforgettable Win

Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Naruto, but the new plot is my own.

**New Strength**

kkstev

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

The walk home was quiet but pleasant. Once again Sakura was able to make her way to her destination without drawing much attention. But she could not help the nearly imperceptible smile that graced her features during her walk. She found some peace from her usually frustrating thoughts, but was also productive. Overall, a good day.

Nothing could ruin her birthday.

Or at least that was how she felt on her journey back to Sengaku. But in reality, she knew that her family would not allow her to keep her happily sedate feeling all the way through until she went to sleep that night, effectively ending her day.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Sakura stepped over the threshold to her home and called out to the house that she was home as she slipped off her shoes. She did not get a response immediately, so she curiously wandered the house to see where everyone was. Finding no one in the living room or kitchen, she shrugged her shoulders, silently counting her blessings, and made her way upstairs towards her bedroom.

She dropped her bag on the bed and looked around quickly to see if anything seemed out of place. Everything appeared to be in order on the surface, so Sakura decided to raid the kitchen for some dinner.

Being careful to securely close her door behind her, she went back to the kitchen, checking the refrigerator first. There was some chicken that was in need of cleaning and cutting. Convenient, as Sakura figured her favorite meal would suffice to top off this wonderful day. To be sure that everything she would need was available, she closed the refrigerator door and turned to the cabinets intending to check for rice.

But before she made it back across the kitchen, Sakura felt the familiar sensation of being watched for the second time that day. Turning to the source, she saw her brother leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. How she had originally missed his dark red hair standing out so defiantly against the pale walls behind him, she could not really figure out.

Trying to not jump to any conclusions, to make the best of the situation, Sakura looked back at him waiting for him to say something. When he didn't after a few moments, she decided to keep things light. "Hey, aniki, want some chicken and rice? I was just checking if there was enough to make a full meal," and looking up to the cabinet, she saw a few bags of rice, more than enough for a dinner for two.

Pulling the closest bag down, then turning around to get the chicken and some vegetables from the fridge, Sakura settled the ingredients on the counter. Satisfied with the collection, she peered up again, wondering why Shii still had not spoken. Apparently, he was not appreciative of being ignored – or at least of not having her full attention – because he only spoke once he had her focus.

"Yeah, guess that actually sounds pretty good. All I've had today was some crap okaa-san threw on a plate earlier. And you cook pretty good for a midget." He smirked at the last part, and Sakura had no choice but to accept it, as his teasing was the closest it ever got to affection between them. And besides, five foot three wasn't exactly midget status. No giant, but the reasonable number was enough to ease any hurt pride at being thought of as small. So she smiled while shaking her head, "Well, I'm glad I can be of service."

Shii moved towards the kitchen table and sat down on one of the mats, just watching Sakura work. It made her uncomfortable when his dark brown eyes bore into her back. Plus the fact that he was so quiet – definitely disconcerting. So used to the work she was doing in preparing dinner, Sakura found nothing to distract from her worrying, _'What could he be thinking about so hard? And _why _is it making him shut his huge mouth? It's like that thing runs on its own extra power source, he even talks in his sleep for Kami-sama's sake!'_ She gulped, realizing that whatever it was, it could not be good. _'Just hope its got nothing to do with me. Actually, screw hope – if any of the good Kamis up there have any regard for a panicking, pink-haired random villager, _please _take pity on me!'_

Knowing it was all probably futile, she turned on the stove to heat up the pan. She quickly cooked the seasoned chicken with the vegetables and put the contents over the two full bowls of white rice. When she set the bowls on the table, Sakura walked across the kitchen once more to get them both glasses of water before finally settling down at the mat across from her brother.

She smiled weakly at him before beginning to eat. Still unusually quiet, Shii finally picked up a piece of chicken and popped it into his mouth, chewing slowly and thoughtfully. Satisfied with what he was eating, he swallowed and finally broke the silence.

"Didn't see you up at school today."

Sakura knew the face she turned on him with was probably not pretty, but she was thoroughly confused. She tended to skip her thought processing when confused.

"Yah, so?" Sakura bit out with more attitude than intended. Shii just stared at her. _'Smart move! Are you trying to make your life more difficult? And you call him the idiot…'_ So sue her, school was a sore and thoroughly over-discussed subject!

Too late to fix her rash statement, Sakura just tried to continue eating normally. Though in her effort to appear normal, she wound up scoffing down too much at once, almost choked, all while managing to nearly pierce her tongue with a chop stick.

But Shii seemed to have a point to make, and so was reigning in his quick temper so he could make his way all the way there. Sakura knew he would never normally let that type of rudeness (_'though deserved for poking his nose where it doesn't belong!'_) towards himself go so easily. So naturally, amidst her mini thought-rants, she was worried that they weren't already fighting. She had a temper just as bad, if not worse than his, but she usually restrained herself better. She knew how much it was taking for him to keep from snapping at her, and it worried her that he was going through the effort. He normally had absolutely no control.

But his restraint wasn't _that_ good. "We get along like shit. Kami, can't even _start_ a conversation without one of us fuckin' gettin' all damn pissy." Sakura couldn't help but glare slightly. Kami-_sama_ only knows he would never refer to himself as 'pissy,' though the description did fit him well….

'_Focus!'_

Sakura opened her mouth to give her colorful opinion about what she thought about being so blatantly insulted…

'_Think too, stupid!'_

… And she immediately closed it. She went to speak again, reigning herself in, and just responded with, "Never helps when the second sentence of the conversation is usually an insult."

Shii just chuckled faintly while muttering his agreement.

And Sakura smiled softly. She did love him - he was just a prick. _'You look up to him too, and want him to like you, much as you hate to admit it.'_ Losing to her own thoughts, Sakura conceded. He was the epitome of popularity, his life being one of leisure and ease.

Granted he had no real goals or plans for the future, but he had the present. He had a highly social personality once his ego deemed you worthy of seeing it, and gathered friends that would seem to do anything for him like it was going out of style. Hating to even think it, but she was not blind, so she also saw that he had the looks that made women of all ages swoon – which he was well and fully aware of.

In her weaker moments, Sakura found herself envying him for his life.

Which Sakura seemed to find, embarrassingly enough, was mainly when they were together and not fighting. She _wanted_ him to accept her, maybe even _help_ her, and she hated herself for it. It would just be so _easy_ for him to do, just a few words here and there. Still, it just seemed like such a low place to sink. Give up a lifetime of true, fulfilling happiness to be happy for the moment. However long that would last. She knew exactly who she was and exactly what she wanted – when she was alone. She seemed to falter when in the presence of others.

Sakura came to this conclusion as she finished her last bite of food, and sighed pushing away her bowl. _'Maybe this is one of our issues...' _Shii looked up, still not having finished his larger portion, but ignored her to finish eating.

Sakura finally realized one of the only times they got along were when no one was speaking or when they gently teased each other. But there was a fine line between their teasing and a deep personal insult, a line that was quite often, and quite easily crossed.

Shii eventually cleaned out his bowl as well, and decided to finish what he started. "So there a reason you didn't go again?"

'_Its not concern, don't even go there. He is still going somewhere with all this.'_

"If I didn't know any better I would say you were worried." Sakura joked, "What, no one fun to torture without me?"

"Nah, not really. All the good munchkins were already taken."

"Drew the short straw?"

"Me, lose? At anything?" Shii stretched back, laughed seemingly to himself, and put his hands behind his head. His confidence was in no way lacking. "Just thought I would be generous and spread the wealth for the day."

Sakura laughed quietly – though why exactly she was laughing at her brother's and his friends' torment of others she didn't fully know, or want to examine _at all_ for that matter. So she cleared the dishes and began washing them. Shii remained at the table while he brought the conversation back around to whatever direction he was trying to steer it in.

"I did meet this hot chick today though." At this, Sakura looked over her shoulder at him and raised one brow, "Thanks for sharing."

"No problem." Sakura rolled her eyes before turning back to the sink when he continued. "I think she's your year. Long, bright blonde hair, darker on the bottom…"

Sakura's hands slowed their movement on the glass she was washing.

"Short, about your height, but she actually looks like a normal human being…"

Her hands stopped moving completely.

"Kinda pale skin with some light freckles on her nose, with bright green eyes, nicer than your dirty mold green…"

Her hands began to tighten around the innocent glass.

"She seemed to know you for some fuckin' reason. Her name's Kouhi."

And finally, the glass cracked. Sakura stared down in a daze at the crack spidering through the glass while her brother continued to ramble about the girl, still not-so-subtly slipping in insults. She tried to remember to breathe normally. _'Screw that! Sick 'em, girl!'_

"Are you kidding me?" Sakura roared as she whipped around, spreading a shimmering arc of soapsuds across the kitchen in the process. Shii just looked up, stunned at the seemingly over-done reaction. He figured she was probably on her period or something along those lines.

"Why would I be kidding, and why are you so damn loud?"

"Shii," Sakura began, using his real name and lowering her voice almost dangerously, "Do you pay _any_ attention to _any_thing that goes on in _any_one's life but your own?"

Shii's eyes narrowed at the insult that began to toe their finely drawn line of peace, but Sakura wasn't finished. "This is the one person in this Kami-forsaken place that is worse than the rest, who takes _pleasure _out of trying to ruin whatever she can in my life and everyone elses, who has _tortured_ me since I was fourteen!" And as the rant went on, Sakura's voice grew. "She is a horrible person to _so many_ other people, and Kami-sama knows that I am fully aware you don't give a damn about me, but the least you could do…"

"I guess it wouldn't make ya happy then that we were together from when school let out 'til about an hour ago." Shii interrupted with a smirk on his face, still lounging without a care in the world. He was watching intently for her to break.

But Sakura stopped in her tracks, slowly lowering the useless piece of glass she held to the countertop. _'Does family mean _nothing_ to this asshole? Or even decency for that matter? And 'together'? Like I don't know what the hell that means! Eww! I knew he was a selfish bastard, but to do this, and intentionally it seems…'_ She couldn't even finish the train of thought before she lunged across the table and pounced.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

'_Well, isn't this a predicament. It's a bit funny though that I'm the one starting the physical fight this time. I can always outsmart the idiot with a few well-chosen words. Usually it's him with the fists first; the condescending bastard knows he can most likely overpower me unless I want to really try to hurt him. He's two years older, has height _and_ reach on me, plus they teach the guys some basic fighting techniques at school. Some garbage about protecting what's rightfully theirs when they're older… I know this is a bit much, but still, for _so much_, he has it coming – at the very least I might get a chance to actually rough him up a bit before I'm seein' stars.'_

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Her thoughts may not have been quite coherent as she flew through the air, over the cleared table, but Sakura got the gist of it through the fully-developed rage. Who knew a moment like that could _really_ stretch so much? Kinda freaky. She figured that was more of a concept to make stories more dramatic. Sure enough though, this second seemed to stretch for hours. It wasn't her life flashing before her eyes, but second thoughts. Too much, too rash, too trivial a reason: but there was only so far that it could possibly go for before the reality of what she was heading for hit her consciousness.

Just as her fist was about to hit Shii's surprised pretty-boy face.

And she remembered _everything_ he's done to cut her so deep.

Shii certainly did not expect her to react as she did either. Normally, he can get his only younger sibling on the brink of tears before she finds some excuse to leave and preserve some of her pride. The only time it comes to blows is when he makes her more angry than upset, and she says something she shouldn't. Insulting him, talking about _her_ friends, talking about _her_self without him initiating it first - all legitimate reasons. I mean no one wants to hear it, he's doing the world a favor. Then he simply puts her in her place. Simple. She needs to be taught a solid lesson now and then. Or quite often. Nuthin' wrong with that, right?

But, this was not the normal situation, now was it? Shii realized quickly when Sakura's fisted hand connected with the far side of his left cheek between his jaw and his ear.

Sakura had never actually gotten through his defenses and landed a hit on his face before. It's always the intended target, but she never expects to land home. Originally her right fist was aimed dead center, but she changed its trajectory at the last second. Strong restraint and some guilt she supposed. Maybe fear of actually _hitting _him, _hurting_ him. She had never done that to anyone before. But still, it connected, and still, it looked painful.

Not frightening at all, actually, and the small victory was not enough.

Sakura was not finished causing him a little bit of hurt in return. Not only for his last words and actions, but for _years _of it. And she was being merciful. _'Internal, personal, gut-wrenching wounds only those close can inflict do not heal as easily as the simple bruise or cut… I should know, I have had enough of both to have figured it out by now.'_

So, the jerk should be _pleased_ she was feeling kind enough to offer her fist rather than some cutting words and harsh truths she knew would be highly effective.

After both of their shock at Sakura landing the blow wore off, and both were toppling over with all of the excess momentum searching for a way to be used, each combatant reacted differently. Shii immediately took up the defense in order to get the upper hand and get her where he wanted. He knew superior positioning was the best way to achieve a simpler, swifter victory. Sakura, on the other hand, lost all sense of self and continued in a blind rage. She assumed she was throwing an unending barrage of punches and kicks, with each hitting home, every single time a grimace appearing on Shii's normally pompous features.

Back in real life though, Shii had already taken control of the situation. She was flat on her back beside the newly upturned table, still struggling as though her life depended on it. He held both of her small wrists in one of his hands down to his left against the floor, beside where his left knee rested. His right knee was lodged securely into her stomach, just below her ribs, and his right forearm propped against her neck, one of the bones there familiarizing itself intimately with Sakura's trachea.

He smirked at the ease at which he pinned her down, and waited patiently in this position for her to realize she lost. But she still struggled violently without focus, and Shii quickly lost his last remnants of patience as he began to feel the throbbing of his left cheek, thinking the spot was in such an odd location. She hit two bones and some soft tissue. Not bothering to pick at the thought at the moment, he focused back on his superior skill and prowess. To get Sakura to submit and get her back to feeling pathetic (as she very well should) more quickly, he utilized his vast knowledge and experience to clarify the results. Or plain old logic , as he merely began to descend his right arm to the floor, effectively blocking her air flow.

Sakura snapped out of her unseeing fury quickly when she realized she could not breathe properly. And she almost started pitying herself, as she realized the winning battle she had been fighting not moments ago could not be any further from the truth.

That was a damn smirk, not a grimace. She wanted to change that.

She had some thought processing back – well at least she was seeing reality now – and she was _far_ from done. He had larger hands and stronger arms, but she figured there was no way he could hold _both_ of her arms still with just his weaker left hand. So freeing her arms comes first, because she had to get loose and stop him before he made her pass out – _again_.

And so she focused all of her remaining energy on gaining control of her hands, then she _may _Have the chance to gain the advantage. She never yields to the point where he is satisfied – she never begs, never _really_ cries in front of him, never minimizes her worth, never _breaks_ – and so every time things boil over she ends up losing consciousness. And she hadn't caused enough damage to be finished just yet.

_'Not this time.'_

She twisted her wrists around and between each other to make him lose his grip. Eventually she began to make some headway, and started pulling her arms closer to herself, then pushing away, keeping the pattern random. Shii was not prepared to give up though, and tried to tighten his grip to keep his upper hand.

In the process, one of Shii's nails dug deeply into the skin of Sakura's inner forearm, but still she refused to lose. Continuing to twist and thrash to gain an edge, the gash that was being created began to curve erratically along with the twits of her arms. But dealing with the pain and the blood paid off, as both of her arms were now free.

Shii quickly made to rectify his slip up, and once again restrained the arm closest to him, which unfortunately for her was her right, but still her bloodied left remained unbound.

Sakura took the opportunity when she felt Shii's arm at her neck loosen slightly as he focused on her other actions to get him off of her. She took a chance drawing his attention to her free limb should she fail. But it was worth the risk should it land true. She knew he was too close to get a solid hit with her fist, so she used some of her leverage and swung around her bent left elbow and shoulder towards his neck. She made sure to restrain the amount of force behind it so as to not seriously injure him in such a vulnerable place.

But the force proved sufficient, adding drama as her own blood scattered across hit skin. Within the blink of an eye they laid side by side, on their backs, on the floor, panting harshly. Soon each seemed to realize they were still mid-fight and stumbled away from each other as they found their legs to stand. Sakura hated grappling on the floor, it made her feel so constricted and confined – too easy to be trapped. But now that she was standing, facing off against her surprised aniki, she honestly did not know what to do.

So she went with the only instinct she had, and charged once again.

As Shii was still having some trouble breathing, or even seeing straight for that matter, he was not fully prepared for the next assault. He found himself standing in the same location that he was before he ate: in the doorway, in between the kitchen and living room.

But in the next moment, his arm was forced behind his back in an oddly familiar way. Shii found himself smiling at her cleverness, as he saw her frantic pink locks pass through his lower peripheral vision. He had put her in various locks and chokeholds over the years, testing their mechanics, effectiveness and ease of application. While Sakura kept her head down and body low, she must have decided to do the same and put one of his choice locks to action against him now.

Unfortunately for the ignorant and outmatched little girl, Shii was capable of both initiating _and_ breaking such holds, and his smugness radiated off him.

Sakura knew exactly what he was thinking, but it did not matter. Her goal was not to keep him still for long, as she knew she couldn't. Her objective was to throw him backwards against the wall behind him; hence the fact that they were still moving, her forwards and him backwards.

Shii never put all the pieces together at once in his still-fuzzy mind. There was the lock, and there was the movement. For him, the lock came first, as it could be more problematic, so it was to be dealt with first. So as they moved backwards, he worked to break the lock.

He almost did, too, but it proved futile when _all _factors were applied.

In the beginning stages of disengaging from Sakura's hold, she slammed him back into the wall. His wrist, at the moment, was bent, and so upon contact with the solid object there was a sickening crack that seemed to echo unendingly through the house. One of those sounds that, even against the strongest of wills, simply refuses to cease replying in the mind. A few dragging seconds after there was a cry of pain involuntarily erupting from Shii's mouth that echoed even louder and longer than the crack itself.

A smile of triumph made its way to Sakura's face as she stumbled a few steps back, looking over her handy work (_'Wow, I am just on point with the puns today!'_ she thought, grinning wider). It was not the original plan – she thought there was much more fight ahead. But circumstances seemed to be on her side. She won, for the first time in her memory, and to be _so_ successful!

Then Shii's trembling knees gave way, and he fell, cradling his left wrist close to his chest, gasping for air like it was his last breaths on this earth. Sakura let out a soft gasp, a shaking hand lightly covering her open mouth, her smile long forgotten. Her _aniki's_ head hung low, back hunched over, shaggy red hair shielding his arms from view. He was literally curling in on himself, protecting the damage. Fear and remorse began to make its way through Sakura when she walked slowly, unable to stop shivering, over to her brother.

She _always_ gets lost in her anger and in the fight.

And she is _always_ satisfied until she comes back to herself and realizes exactly what it is that she did.

But this time it was _bad_.

She never _wins_.

As Sakura continued to creep forward, lowering herself to Shii's slumped height, Shii looked up quickly with murder in his eyes. Speaking out for the first time since they made their initial contact, Shii's voice was shaky and low. Sakura leaned closer to hear him, and to help him.

Just as she caught the words, "You _fucking bitch,"_ his right arm lashed out and struck her side. She fell, and slammed her elbow to the floor to try to catch herself before hitting her head.

Shii went to hit her again, but he found himself swinging at nothing but air. He looked up again to see Sakura wrenched off the floor to her feet and manhandled into the kitchen. Looking around the room for more interference, he was met with a gentle hand to support his face. Luck was against him that it happened to be his injured side, making him wince. So the hand was quickly removed, only to be replaced comfortingly on the other side.

He reigned in his anger temporarily and just succumbed to the soothing words that were being whispered to him as he closed his eyes and steadied his breathing.

Knowing that you're just not done grants more control.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

All the fight went out of her as soon as she was picked up off the ground and tossed away from scene's final location and into it's starting site. She felt every heartbeat in the ribs Shii just hit and the elbow she caught herself with. Her fight or flight instinct turned immediately to flight, but she resigned herself to knowing there was nowhere to run.

Not just yet.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

**You may not know:**

aniki : older brother

okaa-san : mother


	4. Caregiving

Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Naruto, but the new plot is my own.

**New Strength**

kkstev

* * *

><p>Note: The larger breaks [~-~-~-o-~-~-~] denote a change in time, whereas the smaller breaks [~-o-~] indicate switching between scenes happening at the same time.<p>

* * *

><p>~-~-~-o-~-~-~<p>

Sakura could not help staring interestedly at each drop of blood that dripped from her trembling fingertips to the pristine kitchen tile. From the cut snaking up her arm, the blood seeped out erratically from various locations.

'_Never seems as bad when it's happening... hurts like a bitch now though.'_

The adrenaline was wearing off a bit, and her heart was still pounding furiously, which was just making the bleeding, and pain, worse. The small cut suddenly seemed more like a decent sized gash, and she would definitely have to remember to clean it up later. _'It _was_ caused by Shii's disgusting little fingernails – Kami-sama only knows where they've been today.'_ Sakura shivered slightly and let slip a small sigh.

"Oh, well I'm just so damned fucking _sorry_, I had not known that my fucking _presence_ was such a fucking hassle to you."

Not even bothering to meet the cold blue eyes that went with the words, Sakura continued to look downward towards the kitchen floor. Without thinking, she almost started hunching in on herself, still being sure to keep an eye on the feet in front of her to watch for movement. She quickly realized her reflexive move, and was frustrated with herself. If things came to blows again, her submissive position would not be one that was much good for defense. So, just as slowly and subtly as her initial movements, she shifted her footing again and unlatched her arms, which she had not even noticed held a death grip on each other, protecting her injury.

'_Putting so much pressure on my upper arm probably didn't help the bleeding much either.'_ Sakura almost sighed again – _almost_.

"Is this the kind of fucking shit that happens when I'm fucking gone for five _fucking_ seconds?"

"I meant no disrespect to you or your house, Otou-san."

His response was almost a snort, and at this sound Sakura looked up at him. There is always a fine line between trained obedience and blatant disrespect when it came to keeping her eyes lowered with her father.

"It's like you Kami damned bastards live to make my life shit. Well?" He stared at her, seeming like he could pull the words he wanted to hear from her mouth with his eyes alone. "What in Kami's fucking name happened?"

~-o-~

"Tenshi, what happened?" Ayaka questioned her son softly as she cradled his face in her hands. When he merely did not respond, she asked for his wrist instead. She noticed that there was already angry-looking swelling covering a good quarter of his forearm. "This looks bad, akanbu, you need to tell me what happened." Her voice was still calm, but more persistent this time.

Shii finally opened his eyes and looked up at his mother. He sighed and looked down to the arm she was holding delicately, and anger passed over his features once again.

~-o-~

Sakura winced slightly, knowing there was a series of things that caused it. There was just a pure lack of respect, for one. But it was his continued crude language that was most prominent in her mind, and she knew this whole thing was not going to end well. But she tried to keep positive anyway, hoping for the best. "Shii was just practicing his defensive moves with me. I guess I am getting a little bit better, and got carried away."

'_Stop lying.'_

~-o-~

Misinterpreting his look, Ayaka spoke again, "Kanojo, I know it hurts, but we may fix it up better if I know exactly how it was injured."

"Well," Shii began, almost as though a spotlight were on him as he was ready to perform his breathtaking monologue, "Sakura came home a bit after it got dark, and seeing as she skipped the dinner you worked to make for us earlier, she was hungry. Even though _I_ ate plenty of the food _you_ made before, I felt bad makin' her eat alone."

"Well of course, that was highly considerate of you, especially as she should not have to be alone at all today," Ayaka conceded.

Making an odd face, Shii, confused, ignored her comment to continue his story, "So she cooked us both some food," Shii paused again, trying to decipher the reason behind his mother's troubled expression at his words again. Deciding he really didn't care, he pushed on once again. "After we ate, we thought we'd mess around, and she volunteered to let me try some new locks on her. It just got a bit crazy."

~-o-~

"I would call a hole in my damned wall a good fucking bit past 'carried away'!" He spat out. Almost as an afterthought, Ren added, "Not to mention that I think your brother is hurt, I heard him fuckin' sqealin' from the other end of the house." At this point he began to chuckle to himself. Then he paused, mouth still agape, as though reaching some conclusion in his mind. A dark look passed his face as his eyes darted back to examine his daughter, "How the _fuck_ did you manage that? You're a scrawny little fuckin' _princess_, and my son's supposed to have a set of balls."

'_Princess my ass… what kind of royalty gets kicked out of their own castle like it's going out of style?'_

His manly father-son macho pride comment was not worth a thought, in the state he was in.

"An accident, Otou-san. We were merely closer to the wall than we realized."

_'Stop. Lying.'_

Crossing his arms and leaning fully against the counter, Ren continued to scowl at his youngest. "What, and ya _pushed_ him?"

Sakura grit her teeth, knowing this was not going to hold her off much longer. She can handle her damn self!

'_Last chance. Stop lying for him, you always regret it later. Who knows, you might get a little bit more respect'_

She managed to get out, "No father, he fell backwards."

~-o-~

"I cannot say that I'm particularly thrilled, but I am glad you two weren't fighting for real. That one time it happened when you kids were younger almost sent me to an early grave." Ayaka sighed and stood, informing her son she was going to go get wraps for his wrist, and sternly telling him to stay put.

Shii _almost_ laughed before she was out of earshot.

He managed to wait until she was gone to break out uncontrollably in hysterics.

~-o-~

As Sakura walked to the sink to wash her hands so she could go clean and bandage her arm properly, her father began mumbling to himself. Glaring down into the shiny metal of the sink as the water ran past her dry, fisted hands, she almost _wished _she had a glass to squeeze again. Unfortunately, all that was left were the shards of the first one.

He continued to speak to himself as though no one else was around. _'He probably really thinks no one is. I'm surprised he hasn't even forgotten why he was angry already.'_ These thoughts calmed her again slightly, as she knew she was at least in a better state of mind than her father was. So she began quickly cleaning the broken glass, making to dispose of it so she can wash up and take care of herself.

"Gotta buy spackle… paint… better damn well know I ain't gonna fuckin' do it… bitch caused the hole in the first place… should know howta do somethin' fuckin' useful"

Just the slices she caught of his solitary conversation caused Sakura to accidentally cut her hand – of _course_ the one that already hurts – on the glass shards she was handling. _'Deep breath.'_ She managed to get the now bloody pieces to the trash, and then moved back to the sink.

"… patch _him_ up… can't believe… lost to a little bitch… toughen up the bastard… marry her off… obviously too fucking stupid for school… ain't _goin_… teach her some respect… learn her place… spoiled rotten little whore…"

"_Excuse_ me?" There was only _so_ much that can be said, no matter who's mouth it was spoken from. If it was true, _fine_. If it was meaningless words out of spite, _fine_. If _he_ had any right to talk, _fine_. But this? No. Oh_ hell_ no.

Even from her _Otou-san_. Her _father_. Her _keeper_ until he can trade her for something better.

He grunted, and looked in her direction, "What do _you_ want?"

"Sumimsan, _Otou-san_," she could almost _taste _the venom she put into that one word, "but I couldn't hear that last thing you said. Perhaps it was because you were mumbling, in which case you would normally tell me to speak up." The last two words came out sharper and shorter than the rest, and Sakura almost reveled in the fact that there was no going back now.

"What the _fuck _did you just say to me?"

"I asked where you were earlier today, _father_."

"Not that it's any of _your_ snarky-assed damned business, but I was actually enjoyin' m'day with your Uncle Mimizu. Didn't havta listen to whatever shit was _cert'nly_ going wrong here!"

"Ah," she smirked with lowered eyelids as though the cat had finally snatched the canary, "you _enjoyed _yourselves, huh? Bet that was fun. Isn't my wonderful _Oji-san_ just a _gem_? Few bottles of sake involved, I presume?" She laughed, a terrible sound that she hated herself for being able to make so easily. Yet it continued as she went on, "Who _are_ we kidding? Of _course_ there was sake!"

"What. The. _Fuck_. Are you trying to say?" He was still leaning against the counter, but his upper body was bent slightly forward and his arms were now hanging at his sides, hands balled into fists. "Why don't you get to the fucking point so I don't havta listen to you fucking marvel at your own damned voice anymore!"

'_You had better damn well bet I have a point. And this time, you're going to hear the whole friggin' thing.'_

She was sure to enunciate each word, making it slow and clear for his alcohol-ridden mind. "Who the _hell_ are _you_ to have _anything_ to say to _me_ about _anything_ that _I_ do in _my_ life, when _you_ can barely _stand_ on your own because you're so damn drunk more than you're sober! What, you think we are all too stupid to see, _every _time? Because we can_not_ try to pretend that this is a new thing – "

She was cut off, but she knew she would be, that's why she was sure to get in the important stuff in first. What she didn't expect was the searing pain tearing up her left arm when he grabbed it and squeezed, pulling their faces closer together. She didn't want him to see her wince – he would take that as a victory – so she did her best to turn her grimace into a scowl, and met her father eye-to-eye.

His voice quickly became dangerously low, "After everything I've done for you, you have the _nerve_ –"

Now it was _her _turn to cut him off. She realized that, in fact, she _wasn't _quite done. Not with the words he added. "And _what_, may I ask have _you_ done for _me_ besides the bare minimum that you are _required _to do, Mr. Policeman, by so _graciously_ allowing me to reside in your home! But only when it suits you of course, as you have proven _many_ times."

By this point Sakura was panting heavily, not so much from strain, but from finally letting it all go. Every day, she continues on like everything that happens in her life is normal, just doing her best to stay only on the outskirts of everyone's attention. If she slips by unnoticed, it's a successful day. But there are a few times, like today, where just dealing with it all isn't enough. Just sitting back and taking what they dump on her _isn't enough_. Not today. Today, her damn _birthday_, she was feeling particularly fed up.

Ren looked almost shocked for a moment, before his scowl was quickly renewed. In the following seconds of silence, the battle of wills continued until he ultimately strengthened his grip on her arm again to emphasize his next words. Still, he had not raised his voice again.

"You, _little girl_, have no _idea_ how life works. You think you're so grown up? _Fine_. I want rent. You think you're so mistreated now? _Fine_. I'll stop treating you as my daughter. Now, you're nothing but a fucking worthless, ungrateful, good-for-nothin', _previously_-spoiled, and just plain fucking _stupid_ tenant. _Being a grown-up is fun, huh? _Wait and see how you trip n' fall trying to do something with your pathetic excuse for a life. And guess where I'll be? Laughing, as I sit in my nice, comfortable home as you look in _longingly_ from your box on the fucking street!"

"Ren!"

Both combatants in the perpetual war started when they heard Ayaka's voice. Sakura refused to admit it at the moment, but she felt tears building behind her eyes, stinging, searching for a way out. But she couldn't let them win. Not here, not yet.

'_Well the snapping anger thing as been working so _flawlessly_ for you, why not just keep up with that?'_

So she did. Another horrific smile came to her face, twisted and scornful, as she slowly turned back to her father, quickly whispering, "Well at least you can't kick me out then, if I'm paying you rent. If you were having so much trouble paying the bills, you could have just taken _more_ of my money, supposedly without me knowing _of course_, and then _still _would've had excuses to kick me out when you pleased."

The time for quiet cuts at each other was over. She finally said everything she had been needing to say, not that it would make much difference later. But it made her feel better for the moment, to just get it out. Though now, her father was absolutely _roaring_.

"You think this is a fucking _joke_? I fucking gave you life, and I will _kill _you if I so please!"

And he roughly pushed her away so she stumbled and waited until she was upright and facing him again. Then, his hand already ominously covered in blood from her arm, he started to come at her like he was intending to do just as he said.

"REN!"

Ayaka repeated before swiftly sliding between her husband and her daughter, wondering how anything could ever come to this. This was her _family_, what had pushed them so far apart?

Ren quickly halted his forward movement, as stepping further would run him straight over his wife. Instead, he looked over her head, growling at Sakura from his superior height, and bared his teeth.

"Figures you would protect _her_."

'_Animal.'_ Sakura thought with distaste, her own lip curling slightly, as she looked onto the scene. Her whole body was humming, as she felt like she was injected with pure adrenaline for the second time that evening. But still, the most she could do was look at her mother's side, as she refused to face either one of the opponents she separated.

Sensing the building tension between both sides, Ayaka placed a gentle hand on Ren's chest and turned a glare on Sakura, "Go," she stated simply with no room for argument. Debating on retaliation, Sakura stood her ground for a moment, the ground she had _rightfully_ earned, but soon deflated. _'Who am I really kidding here? I could never win these battles, and never mind the wars. There's just no point.'_ Following that thought, she quietly exited the room, careful to not turn her back on either of its occupants. Her movements were slow, as though trying to avoid startling a wild animal.

"That's right, you better fuckin' run, bitch!"

And with that, she hurried off to her room.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

With the resounding _click_ of the closing of her door behind her, Sakura slid her back along the cool surface and landed in a heap on the floor. She had not seen Shii in the living room, but that did not mean she was safe from him.

He had been thwarted from seeking immediate retribution.

So keeping her absolutely dead weight just behind her door right now was something she was both unable to help, and something that was highly convenient.

Her tears seemed to be never-ending, soaking into her light carpet in fat splotches, and she could feel the room grow hotter. She knew she was not quite through for the night, though she wished so dearly that she was. This was all just too much. What had gotten into her?

She could not possibly fathom the answer to this as her already muted sobs quieted more, and she listened for movement on the other side of the door. Hearing none, she made her way to her window to open it and cool her reddening face. Strong emotion of any kind always did that to her, and it was only a weakness she had to dispel quickly if she could before anyone saw her.

'_Why do I cry? Why does this get to me? I know that none of it is true, yet every damn time here I am.'_ Sakura drew a deep breath of the incoming fresh air and tried to fully level her breathing. She took a moment to look to the sky to see if any of the heavenly bodies were visible for comfort. _'That's the problem; I _don't _know that none of it's true. What if it is? I have never had anyone close enough to let me know if I am getting out of control. Maybe I _am _too self-centered, too self-important, too selfish, too ambitious, too…'_

Quiet knocks at her door, followed by the twisting doorknob drew Sakura immediately from her thoughts. She quickly turned around and tried to appear relaxed, knowing that she most likely looked anything but.

As the door quietly closed behind her, Ayaka looked up through her pale red hair. Tight curls just beyond her shoulders framed her small face, as though protecting it, making her troubled brown eyes seem even more intense. Sakura almost could not bear to look at her mother like this, but she knew she was the cause – it's only fair to at least face the consequences.

"Okaa-san," Sakura said in a voice just beyond a whisper after a few moments, when the tension in the air between them just became too much.

"Sakura." The girl in question waited, her mother's tone stern and foreboding. After holding her level look for a moment, Ayaka dropped all pretenses and sighed. "What happened? I have _never _heard you speak like that. So _vicious_. So _angry_." She shivered slightly, as though the thought was beyond appalling.

Quietly, Sakura responded, "Okaa-san, I know. I was just hyped up from fighting Shii-san, and otou-san assumed immediately everything was my fault, insulted me –"

"Fighting?" Ayaka cut in somewhat belatedly. Sakura quickly caught on and pulled her guard back up, having dropped it more than she had realized after being so severely shaken. Though she was still disappointed that that word was the only one her mother had actually caught.

"Not for real, okaa-san, just practicing. But still, it has a similar effect." Sakura noticed her mother about to speak up in question again, so she added, "Or so I would assume."

_'Nice save for a pathetic _lie_.'_

Seeming appeased, Ayaka finally released her grip on the doorknob and stepped fully into the room. She sat comfortably on the edge of Sakura's bed, placing her hand on the spot next to her. "Sakura-chan." And with that, Sakura obediently sat down next to her with her hands in her lap, eyes downward. Her mother placed her hand on Sakura's knee in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture, yet Sakura couldn't help but just stare awkwardly at it.

"…difficult at times, but you need to control yourself better in the future." Her mother finished. So distracted by her mother's initial gesture, Sakura only caught the very last of her words. _'Well, at least it's enough to not seem like I wasn't listening.'_

"Okaa-san, I know, and this was one slip-up," Sakura responded, as she was expected to, still staring thoughtfully at her mother's hand. As an afterthought, she added more softly, "Besides, it's not like anything I said wasn't true."

Waiting for some yelling, hitting, a mild scolding, _something_, Sakura sat patiently, _'And Shii has the big mouth, right?'_

Replacing her hands together on her own lap and fixing her gaze at them, Ayaka, barely audibly, replied, "I know."

Feeling as though a weight had been lifted off her chest - for more than one reason - Sakura cast her mother a sidelong glance, "Then _why_?"

"He is your father, my _husband_."

Looking back down, Sakura could sound nothing but dejected as she replied, "That doesn't have to mean anything in this case, so why does that matter? Things can still change."

"He does love you, you know."

The only response she received was the soft sound of a quick exhale.

"He _does_, he just doesn't know what that means. I thought you would have figured that out by now." Ayaka could not bring herself to even look at her daughter, but she felt compelled to continue, "Do you know what that did to him? Even though he barely is even aware of what's going on around him, he's hurt, Sakura-chan, truly hurt. He believes you hate him. He believes you lost respect for him. I know, of course, that you are simply incapable of hate, but still, he feels that from you. He feels he failed as a father and does not know what to do with himself or how to fix it."

Slightly gritting her teeth, knowing _some _of her eloquent words may be true, but there was certainly some large embellishment. "Okaa-san, I did not think I did anything too far beyond reason considering the circumstances. And what I said may have been out of line for a child to say to her elder, never mind father, but it was all true regardless. And for the record, he didn't lose my respect tonight, he missed that one by a few years. He lost all my respect since the day I was able to think for myself. There just is only so much a person can take before they snap." She paused for a moment before continuing, "I snapped, and I am sorry for that, but I am _not_ sorry for any of the words I said."

'_Plus really, who the hell said I wasn't able to hate? Think I've earned that one.'_

"Sakura-chan, that's not nice!" Sakura barely restrained rolling her eyes at the well-trained response. But she stiffened quickly as her mother continued nervously, having obviously picked out a few choice words. "You have respect for me, don't you?"

Almost panicking, Sakura knew she had to answer without too much pause, or her mother would be offended. She knew her mother tried her best, but Sakura had to stick with the truth. She gathered her words as fast as she could and spit them out, hoping they came out for the best, "You are my okaa-chan, and not like _him_ at all, so how could I not?" And she accompanied her words with the best smile she could manage.

"I don't have a baby girl anymore, do I?"

_'Shoot! I wonder if she realized I never really said yes. But I didn't say no either…'_

Sakura looked up to see that sometime during her first speech, her mother had begun observing her. Her large brown eyes conveyed sadness and pride, longing and hope.

_'No, I don't think she fully understood. Good...'_

Holding her gaze, Sakura gently replied, "No okaa-chan, you haven't for a while."

Ayaka sighed in resignation, but smiled all the same. She stood up, brushed the imaginary dirt off her lap, and placed a careful hand on top of Sakura's pink head, "I am so blessed, thank Kami-sama." Her hand smoothed Sakura's hair down on one side until it reached far enough to cup her cheek, "But as an adult that also means you know what you really should do right now."

With that, Ayaka turned around and began to exit the room, adding, "Let me know when you finish," before she fully stepped out.

Sakura was left alone in her room with her knee, head, and cheek feeling almost as though they were burnt. She let out a huff as she threw herself backwards onto her bed and tried to work out exactly how to go about this.

Comfort can turn into manipulation – intentionally or not – if played just right.

Sakura knew a master player.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Stepping out of her room and silently securing the door behind her, Sakura made her way downstairs to the basement.

To the hideout her father used as his lair.

She made her way down, knocking tentatively on the wall before poking her head beyond the stairs. She saw her father there, leaning sullenly against his workbench, a beer clasped securely in his hand. He looked up at her approach, and he began to scowl.

"What the hell do you want you ungrateful piece of shit? Come to grace your _drunken_ father with more wisdom? I mean who the hell are you to call me drunk – you would have no idea. I know what I'm doing, I'm the _adult, _the _breadwinner_, the…"

At this point Sakura began to tune out his useless rant. She prepared herself for these words, as they never changed, but that did not mean she had to frustrate herself by actually _listening_ to it… and tempting herself to want to _correct_ it.

As she waited for him to tire himself out so she could do what she had to do, Sakura thought more on exactly how she was going go about her task. _'Again, I can't outright lie and say what I said wasn't true. He would be satisfied, but it's not _right_. _I _would know I did it and hate myself for it. Besides, especially with his completely wasted thoughts, all he would need to hear is an apology. Not like sober he would be smart enough to ask _why_ there was an apology in the first place though either. Just some form of submission is fine. This won't be too hard if he stays calm.'_

Pausing in her own thoughts, Sakura realized her father appeared to be contemplating the color of his beer as he stared at it intensely with a furrowed brow. _'Now or never.'_

Trying not to choke on just her first word, she began, "Otou-san, I just wanted to come down here to tell you that I know that I shouldn't have said what I did, and I apologize. It was out of line for me to speak to you in that way. I reacted in an unladylike manor that would have embarrassed and dishonored you if ever seen outside these walls or in front of guests. I apologize once again for my foolishness." _'Of not leaving any sooner, for not standing up for myself any sooner, for not getting anywhere even though I finally did...'_

A gruff laugh was the first response, before, "You're damn right to be begging for my mercy. You know, you may not be as fucking stupid as you actually are. Or look. Well, let's be honest, you're a fucking moron, but maybe not as hopeless as I thought." _'What kind of idiot would sound stupid while telling someone else they're stupid?'_

He placed his beer down behind him and stood up straight, making his way over to where Sakura sat trying to look as submissive as possible while still being partially on guard – which she discovered is actually much harder than it sounds in theory.

'_Not that I can really defend myself at this point – that time has come and passed already tonight.'_

When he was within range, she braced herself, waiting for a solid backhand to her face. But it took much too long, so she eventually looked up to meet her father's icy gaze. Suddenly, _again_, her air supply was cut off as her father took a new approach. Sakura found herself with her back slammed onto the flat, finished top of the workbench with her lower body awkwardly dangling off the edge. The best part, though, was her father's enormous hand wrapped at least three quarters of the way around her neck.

He looked almost confused about what just happened as he leaned threateningly over her, and seemed to forget that his daughter _couldn't breathe_ as he took a moment to contemplate. When he looked down at her vulnerable and pained state though, his face gained some emotion. Sakura saw anger and embarrassment; she even thought she noticed some pity, maybe some hurt. But there was no _way_ – she was being strangled to death for Kami-sama's sake, and _he_ was the one doing it!

With newfound clarity, he finally spoke, emphasizing each of his statements with a point in her face with his free hand. "You need to learn some respect, some work ethic, and some humility. You need control, and you need someone willing to deal with your unbecoming demeanor. You need to lose your hate, and learn to appreciate what you do have, rather than what you _think_ you can get. You need to stop being so damned selfish, and fucking listen to what I say without question!"

His quick release startled her and had her gasping for air, almost falling off the bench. She slowly registered his words, the regular arrogant remarks as well as the others with more depth thrown into the middle.

'_He really _does_ feel hated by me.'_

He seemed to have realized what he let slip as well, as he immediately reverted back to his original speech. "Keep in mind I have the power to end your shitty life whenever I please. The option is becoming much more appealing each day."

He wanted her away from him, he wanted to be alone – for once, just left alone.

"Get the fuck out of my sight."

Finding her feet, Sakura scrambled away for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening, careful not to check her wounds until she was out of sight.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

The plan was to stop in the kitchen to get some ice for her bruising throat, the bathroom to _finally _get a chance to clean her throbbing arm, then to get to her room and be left in peace. But along the way Sakura thought she smelt something burning. She looked around frantically and soon discovered her mother sitting at the dining room table, a cake with sixteen happily flickering candles set before her.

Too stunned to even move, Sakura simply gaped at the homemade cake and hand painted icing.

So what that she didn't even like cake?

Her mother had remembered her birthday.

Accompanied by a broad smile, her mother said, "Happy birthday, sweetheart. And don't think this is it, there's more coming soon!" as she made her way around the table to give her paralyzed daughter a hug.

As she was being held tightly, Sakura was unsure if she really heard the last of what her mother said, if she said anything at all. But as Ayaka gave her space to blow out the candles and cut the cake, Sakura couldn't help but wonder if what she heard was real.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan."

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

**You may not know:**

otou-san : father

tenshi : angel

akanbu : baby

kanojo : sweetheart

suminsan : sorry


	5. The Search

Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Naruto, but the new plot is my own.

**New Strength**

kkstev

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Her feet felt as though they had gained a hundred pounds each as she made her way back toward her room at the very end of the night. Before she made it up the stairs, she heard a faint whimpering coming from behind her. Sakura stopped, with a faint smile appearing on her face.

Gently, she whispered, "It's alright kanojo, it's all over. Come with me to sleep now."

Carefully looking around, worried for more distress within the house, a black dog with tan spots above its eyes and halfway up each of its legs emerged from the shadows of the living room. His head was large and the rest of his body muscular, but his current stance was purely submissive. His shaggy fur was partially flattened in places, making it clear he had been hiding for some time. To see her dog – strong, proud, and protective – look so beaten, nearly broke Sakura's heart. She knew he would protect her with his own life, but she also knew that he couldn't when the fights were within the family. He never knew what it was he should be doing when everyone was yelling or fighting. She sighed, waiting for him to make his way to her.

"Good boy, Hito." He looked up at her with deep brown eyes that seemed to check her own green ones to see if she was okay. But she couldn't even meet his intelligent eyes for long. So they both made their way up the stairs and into Sakura's room, as she whispered more comforting words for the both of them. Soon Sakura found herself sitting on her floor, once again, this time leaning against her bed as Hito came to lay curled beside her with a grunt. Petting him softly as she just took in the quiet of the night, Sakura sat, focusing on his soft breathing rather than everything else bearing down on her life.

Though now would seem to be the most appropriate time for reflection, she could not bring herself to do much more than attempt to clear her mind.

Before long, Sakura fell asleep right there on the floor, her head ending up resting on the side of her best friend.

~-o-~

Ren was staring at his hands, fingers interlaced and resting on his workbench – where his only daughter was gasping for breath only an hour before. "Kuso," he growled to himself, lifting his hands up and rubbing at his eyes. He stood, careful to set his fresh empties with the rest, being sure not to actually look at the size of the growing pile.

As steadily as he could, he made his way up the stairs toward his room, his hands trailing along the walls as he walked.

~-o-~

Ayaka was putting the leftovers of the cake away. She finished, and moved on to begin a last cleanup of the kitchen for the night. She never made any sounds more than a few clinking of dishes or the crinkle of the garbage bag as she added to it.

All the while silent tears made their way down her face, blurring her vision but never slowing her in her work.

~-o-~

Shii turned over in his bed, sighing peacefully in his sleep.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

"We're going to need help."

The sun was just peeking up over the horizon, reaching out slowly to touch and light up everything within Fire Country. The spectacle was something worth watching from the impressive height of Hokage Tower, and the woman who stood by the enormous windows at the top of the tower was not going to miss it. So she continued speaking slowly with her hands linked loosely behind her, her back facing the shinobi in her office.

To the people waiting behind her, her shadowy silhouette peering out over the village set an ominous and charged atmosphere in the office. Which of course did not go completely without note by the woman, either.

"The current situation is too tense for comfort. We know that Sound is going to push toward a full-scale war." True to their training, neither man made a move nor sound. Tsunade took a deep breath, closing her eyes to the view that contributed to the naming of her country. She turned around quickly, whipping her long blonde pigtails around her head. She narrowed her eyes at the report sitting on her desk, before grabbing it and handing it to the Nara in front of her.

He scanned it quickly, sighed loudly, muttering, "Troublesome," under his breath as he held the report out to his right. It was taken from his hands and read over for a third time.

"They won't stop until the Snake finally succeeds in snagging an Uchiha. They are waiting for us to let down our guard from the attack and attempted kidnapping four years ago."

At her words, she heard the report crinkle slightly with the tensing of its current owner. He stared at it blankly for a moment longer before setting it back on the desk.

"You understand my worry then? You two are my best. We need to figure out how to deal with Orochimaru's advances with our limited forces. Many were lost the first time, I don't need to explain that to you. Now, we have had less and less graduating from the Academy over the past few years, most likely because of their parent's fear. But still, there are even less bothering to push themselves to reach even Jounin level, never mind ANBU. Either that, or they're just not good enough." She let out an exasperated huff, wrinkling her nose for a moment in the process.

"We are too dependent on our allies – Suna cannot be asked to make up for our shortcomings. Simply _assuming_ we have the strength to tear down the snake bastard when he finally decides to make another move _won't_ stop my people from being slaughtered." The end of her sentence was progressively raising in volume. She paused, regaining her calm, sure to look both in the eyes before adding, "Nor will it stop him from fully taking the village."

"Hokage-sama, we understand. We will work to rectify the situation immediately."

"Yes, well, that would be best, wouldn't it? Do what you can in the village, but I also have my own idea I will need you two to consider in your plans." Tsunade sat down in her chair, leaning back and crossing her arms. The men waited patiently. "Extend your search outside the village as well."

"But, Hokage-sama, we can't –"

"Nara, stop, I don't want to hear it. Think about it, work out a strategy, and bring it back to me by the end of next week. This assignment takes priority over all other activities, so you both will be off the mission roster until the plan is created and implementation is discussed. The current discussion will be of highest confidentiality. Any questions?"

Shikamaru straightened his spine at her authoritative tone, resuming the ready position he had lost at some point during her speech. The man beside him still had his feet shoulder width apart, back straight, his hands securely locked behind his back. Once they mirrored each other, they nodded sharply and replied in unison, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Well get to it!" Tsunade abruptly stood again, slapping her hands flat on her desk, "We need shinobi!"

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Sakura woke up and stretched, wincing slightly at the crick in her neck. She seemed slightly startled to be looking _up_ at her bed, rather than down from it, but then she noticed her snoring pillow and giggled a little bit. Disturbed, Hito curled his head around to look at her sleepily, then stretched all four of his legs straight out, grumbling from deep in his chest in the process. Sakura giggled again and scratched his stomach.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Hito!" He put his head back down on the floor and yawned. "Well I am so sorry to have disturbed your sleep, tansei!" She patted his head and kissed his folded ear, the only part of his head she could reach. He let out a soft snort as Sakura stood up and stretched herself, still with a smile on her face.

She slipped out to the bathroom to wash up and brush her teeth, then made her way back to her room. Looking through a few drawers, she pulled out some peroxide and fresh bandages, cleaning and wrapping her left arm as best as she could one-handed, carefully covering from hand to elbow. She dressed as quickly as she could with the hindrance, grabbed her bag, then moved to leave, before she heard Hito stir and get up to follow. She planned on setting out and getting food somewhere else, but her mother was in the kitchen already, as were her father and brother.

Resigned to being forced to face her family again so soon, she greeted them with a small smile and nod, sitting at the empty place at the table. Hito settled himself behind her. The unspoken rule: nothing ever happened once the sun rises for a new day. _'Screwed up if you ask me.'_

Her father didn't even lift his eyes past his plate, while her mother brought some toast and juice, setting it down in front of her. Sakura looked dryly at the crunchy piece of bread, then turned to her sides. She watched as her brother stacked his eggs and bacon between his toast, creating a heaping sandwich, while her father just dug into his as it was. She looked up to her mother again, who was eating nothing but toast either, leaning against the counter rather than sitting at the last empty place.

'_I guess I'm the only one who finds this whole scene to be completely messed up.'_ Not being able to change anything, she ate her lacking meal in silence.

Shii eventually stood without a word and made his way back to his room to get dressed. Ayaka set down her unfinished food and went to his vacant spot to clean up the dishes left behind, immediately retuning to wash them. Ren finally looked to Sakura. She felt his attention on her, but did not make any move to address it.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Sakura-chan. You're up later than usual. Did you have any trouble sleeping?"

She wished she was surprised with the civil conversation, she really did. _'It's never going to change. You stood up to him, sure, but he was trashed. Why would he remember insults better than anything else you've ever tried once morning comes?'_

Sakura took the chance to observe her father for a moment while she droned out the programmed and proper response. Already dressed in his uniform for work, the only component missing was the belt holding all of the gear he carried. He was squinting slightly, turned away as much as possible from the light streaming in from the windows. _'Classic.'_ The part she couldn't understand though were his searching eyes and tense hands gripping his utensils.

'_It is definitely not possible, is it?'_

Whatever she said must have been sufficient, as he turned back to his meal. Sakura couldn't help noticing he paused for quite a few moments, just staring at his plate, before resuming eating. Her eyes wandered eventually to the dull golden badge sitting on his chest.

"Alright, well, otou-san, okaa-san, I am going to head to school now. Arigatou for breakfast."

As she walked toward the sink with her used dishes, her father stopped her. He reached into his pocket and removed a few bills before handing it to her, mumbling something about lunch later. Sakura accepted it with a small bow, covering her surprised face, before hurrying out the door.

_'Wow, maybe it _is_ possible. He might've remembered, at least some, of his drunken fight from last night _and_ he's sober now. Plus, I'm not dead. Cool, good day!'_

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Sakura arrived in the school building early, making her way through the empty halls towards the offices. She stepped into the dark principal's secretary's office, leaving her work sitting on top of the desk in plain sight. She nodded her head to herself, satisfied with the work she had done.

Not really sure what to do until classes actually begun, Sakura decided to see if the school's library was open yet. She had heard the elderly librarian there took much pride in the collection, and so she had a tendency to open before regular working hours.

With crossed fingers, Sakura peeked into the windows on the doors. The place was dim, but she could make out a petite figure at the reference desk.

Thanking her luck, she quietly entered. When passing by the librarian, the two exchanged small smiles and nods, each respecting the others' choice of location. Walking down a random aisle in the fiction section, Sakura plopped herself down right there on the floor, and began browsing.

By the time she had to leave for class, she had found what she thought were three new promising stories. Retracing her steps back to the entrance, Sakura found herself in front of the circulation desk, searching her bag for her card. The sweet librarian was there, reaching for the books and checking them out.

In victory, Sakura's hand clutching her card finally emerged from the bag in a whir. She handed it over, once again greeted by the sight of the wrinkled smile of the woman before her.

Unable to keep from reciprocating, Sakura proceeded to bow her head slightly to her elder. "Arigatou, mizu."

"Not a problem, young lady. It makes me happy a youth such as yourself is able to appreciate all that my books here have to offer."

Her voice was so breathy and her words so lightly spoken that it was somewhat difficult for Sakura to be sure she interpreted her correctly. "I enjoy reading, and I was unaware that this library was quite so well-stocked. I must say it was a pleasant surprise."

"Arigatou, koishii, you are going to make me blush." She stopped and seemed to study Sakura's face for a moment, "Though if that is the case, why is it you are unfamiliar to me?"

Her brow furrowed as she watched the young woman's face gain a light dust of color, "I am not around often, and when I am, I just don't have the time, obaa-san. But I assure you, some of that may soon change."

Not quite sure what to make of the answer, the librarian decided to try to figure it out later. For now, she simply stopped to smile, "Please, koishii, Shinki."

"Then, Shinki-shisho, so you know, my name is Sakura."

"Sakura-chan, hm?" Shiniki took a moment to see how the name felt on her tongue, "It is a beautiful name, of course, that so obviously suits you well," she finished the sentence eying Sakura's hair.

"Thank you, Shinki-shisho, and I must say your name suits you perfectly as well."

The elderly woman suddenly burst out in laughter, beginning to make a shooing motion with her hand, "Why thank you, koishii. Enough flattering an old lady now! You're already beginning to spoil me! Head on out to class now, and I hope to see you soon."

Looking at the time, Sakura's eyes widened slightly as she hurried toward the exit. She was sure to call over her shoulder, "Arigatou, again! It was so nice finally meeting you!"

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Tsunade plopped back down in her seat as the members of yet _another _meeting _finally_ exited her office. This idea of hers was causing a lot more trouble than she had thought. Wouldn't everyone be happy she was doing something so drastic and innovative for her village? No, of course not, as that would make her life easier.

She snorted to herself and it echoed in the empty office.

"Well now, that's just not lady-like," a male voice stated flatly, before adding, "I like it! Not afraid to get down and dirty, if ya know what I mean!" He winked, his booming laughter immediately following.

Well, she had thought the office was empty.

Narrowing her eyes, she decided to cut him off by hurling a paperweight at his head. "You are supposed to be damn well respectable in this village, you old, perverted baka!"

He straightened himself, as he had ducked to avoid getting his head knocked off. He gave her a broad smile as he scratched the back of his head and giggled – actually _giggled_, the perverted bastard.

"Kami-sama, did you learn that from the gaki, or did he learn it from you?"

Jiraiya stopped moving his arm, and looked genuinely confused. Tsunade sighed heavily, massaging the bridge of her nose, "Never mind. What did you want anyway?"

"Come on, 'Nade-chan, you know why I'm here."

She looked up, and raised an eyebrow, "And since _when_ exactly have you been interested in village politics?"

"Well," he rubbed his chin, and looked toward the ceiling, "since abouuuut today."

"And _why_, exactly?" Tsunade ground her teeth together so hard she could barely speak. She had enough on her plate already, she didn't need idiots around making things more difficult.

"Yo."

The wood of the desk started to crack slightly, as did the tile under Tsunade's feet. Jiraiya recognized the warning signs, and decided to proceed professionally to escape with all of his bones intact.

"Now _you_ too. What the hell do you want?" She turned to Kakashi, "And I assume you had absolutely no other choice than to enter through the window when I have a flawlessly functioning door?"

"Well, you see Hokage-sama, I was on my way here, when suddenly I saw – " Kakashi stopped abruptly at seeing the frantic crisscrossing of Jiraiya's arms, trying to tell him to stop, and he immediately understood. Kakashi eyed Tsunade warily, noticing the cracking appearing all around her.

He went for his golden move – big smile under the mask, close his visible eye, tilt his head slightly to the side, and hand to the back of his hair. It never failed to get him out of trouble before.

The Hokage's voice was desperate, "Kami-sama take pity on me, I'm surrounded by a long, _long_ line of baka teaching damn baka!"

Kakashi had no idea what she meant, so he slowly returned to his normal relaxed position. Jiraiya was trying valiantly to keep from laughing audibly - he finally understood what she meant.

"Ahh, so why I'm here…"

"Yes, yes, I know why both of you are here. As much as it literally _physically_ pains me to admit this, I am glad you two came. I would like your opinions on the matter."

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

About half-way though her day, Sakura decided that instead of torturing herself in the lunchroom, she would go back to the library. She could read, get her work done, whatever she felt like at the moment.

She kept her eyes lowered, and tried to make herself as small as possible to make her way through the crowd. She sidestepped large groups of friends crowding in places, and found herself on the oncoming side of the hall. Another body came into contact with hers, knocking Sakura off balance.

She looked up to see bleach blonde, and Kouhi looked down at her. She almost snareled, spitting out, "Watch where you're going, kid!" before she stalked off.

Sakura scrambled to her feet and rushed into the library doors. She was grateful to see that nearly the entire place was empty. Really, what type of teenager _chose_ to be in a library?

She took a deep breath with closed eyes, then spotted an ideal table off in a corner near both the window and the stacks. She dumped all of her stuff and fell into a chair. It had been quite a while since she _actually_ saw or spoke to Kouhi. The avoidance tactic had worked wonders.

But it was like the girl didn't even _recognize_ Sakura.

Sure, the school was large, but exactly how many had natural pink hair?

Now that she thought about it, that didn't really matter. Everyone at this point wanted to be unique. So naturally, they all did the same thing, and many began dying their hair interesting colors as they aged.

But _still_.

'_Ugh, I can't do this now! It doesn't matter whether this girl has a clue. I've got enough without that too. I just have now idea _how _exactly I can do that.'_

"Koishii, what is the matter?"

Sakura jumped violently, and could taste each frantic pulse of her heart. She had not expected Shinki, or anyone else for that matter to approach her. Trying to put up an unconcerned face, she said, "Nothing really, I just got lost in thought for a moment."

"Must be some heavy thoughts."

Sakura was caught off guard for a moment, before replying, "Not really, just the normal stuff."

"You must carry much with you then, kodomo." She left quietly again after dropping her perfect observations on a still surprised Sakura.

'_This is ridiculous; I must be easier to read than one of these books. It's almost pathetic at this point.'_

Trying to keep her mind away from reality, Sakura decided one of the novels would be best for now.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

At the same time, an, "It's brilliant," and an, "It's crazy," came from the men, followed by a long silence. Tsunade sighed again.

"Either of you care to elaborate?"

"Well, I think we both may be right," Kakashi stepped up. "It's crazy to go looking outside the village, but that's exactly why it's brilliant. Never since the founding of the villages did any of them stray from their own walls in this manner. It's radical, but innovative."

Tsunade smiled slightly at his choice of wording.

"Well, that's not exactly what I meant by 'crazy,' actually. I had meant just bat-shit crazy." Tsunade narrowed her eyes at her ex-teammate, who simply grinned back. "But now that you put it that way, Kakashi, I see your point. A lot of time has passed since the villages were founded, so who knows what gold we may find outside in the general population? We may even learn some things from them."

"The only catch is having to be careful as to how we approach this, and with whom. It could mean disaster in many, many ways if even the other villages find out."

"I've thought of that," Tsunade nodded solmnly, "I have the Nara and the Uchiha working on it in secrecy. Other than that, it is just the elders and council members who know. The elders are too terrified of the idea to speak about it, and the council is intelligent enough to keep quiet, especially since I informed them of the importance of doing so."

Tsunade struggled to hold back a shiver before she continued, "I don't know if I could live with myself if we inadvertently allowed a spy amongst us to teach our secrets, or gave the other villages this idea to implement. Some would go as far as forcing all the civilians in their country into training." She couldn't repress another shiver of horror. Not even a quarter would survive something like that. Innocents would die.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Sakura sat in her next class still in a bit of a daze. She really could not process her revelation from such a simple encounter.

Sitting quietly in the back corner, she continued to doodle in her notebook to keep preoccupied. She already understood what her teacher was speaking about, but Sakura knew she would be on the topic for quite some time. Slowly, the characteristics of a face quite similar to the hero she was just reading about came into existence. When she finished drawing what she saw in her mind's eye when she read, she rested her cheek on her hand and stared at the rough sketch. _'People like you don't exist. You're too _good_, too _brave_, too _strong_... It's just not fair.'_

"Sakura-gakuto, will you please stop falling asleep and step up here."

Blushing, Sakura stood and stepped forward, followed by the sniggering of the class behind her. Her teacher silently gave her a stack of papers to hand out.

Sakura reached for the pile and began to make her way through the aisles. As she made her way towards the front again, a hand reached out and grabbed her left arm, and pulled the sleeve upward. She winced, but didn't pull her arm away.

The boy looked up at her in shock, "What _happened_?"

"Uh-uh nothing happened! My arm has, uh, j-just been a little achy lately!"

"This isn't what you'd do for some sore muscles."

"O-oh! Well I should-uh fix t-that then, huh?"

By now, the entire class, plus the teacher had their gazes fixated on her. Sakura pulled her arm away and began to rub it tentatively, feeling herself shake slightly while still laughing like an idiot. She returned the rest of the handouts back to her professor and unsteadily went back to her seat. She almost fell twice.

On the way, she heard someone whisper, "She's not _that_ stupid. I wonder what really happened."

Sakura almost laughed, and muttered quietly, "Not like you people would believe I got into a fight anyway."

"You got into a _fight_?" The girl in front of her yelled. Everyone turned to her again.

"N-no, of c-course I didn't!"

"Who was it?"

"Did you win?"

"Where did it happen?"

"So cool! Wish I was there!"

"Yeah, wish I could fight someone too!"

Sakura opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She couldn't even think. It was a complete moment of pure panic.

"Class! I expect order!" Everyone immediately went silent. "Now, do your work. _Silently_. Sakura-gakuto, step outside please."

Once again, she felt dread. She also felt like she was going to cry. Never before had she been the delinquent that gets removed from class for a verbal lashing.

She exited, and held her hands behind her back, eying the floor. "Sakura-gakuto, first, I would like to say that I had no choice but to single you out earlier, as other students were noticing. I also know that if I were to give you an exam on the material right now, you would most certainly pass with flying colors."

Sakura dared to look up, and saw concern on the face of her teacher.

"Now, is everything alright? Are you actually significantly injured?"

"No, kyouyu-san, I had just got a scratch and did not want to take a chance of infection."

"So there was no fighting?"

"I had made a silly and completely _unnecessary _comment under my breath, and everyone carried it way beyond my control."

"Alright, well that's good. Let's head back inside before more rumors start, shall we?" She smiled down at Sakura and open the door for her.

'_Wow, you are getting _good_ at the whole truth-but-not-really thing. And it is still sad each time people hear what they want to hear, and not what is really said.'_

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Sakura rushed out the doors at the end of the day, heading one town over to a small bar. She burst through the doors, and ran behind the counter, throwing her stuff down and tying on an apron.

"Sakura, that you?" She heard a voice call from the back.

"Yeah, boss, it's me!"

A man in his forties stepped from the doorway. He had dark blonde hair that was cut fairly short, giving him a neat look, and was just shy of about six feet. His light brown eyes looked her over, then her bag behind the bar, "You at school today?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry I'm a few minutes late."

"Ya know, 's really no problem. The lunch crowd is never too much for m'to handle by myself. S'only around this time I need ya as the waitress so I can work the bar."

Sakura smiled, and bowed her head slightly, "Hai."

He smiled too, before disappearing again. Sakura heard him call again, "And 'sides, not like you haven't done enough, ev'n just bringin' in customers with tha' cute little face a'urs."

Sakura blushed, and the young couple sitting at a close table chuckled at her embarrassment.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

"Boss! I'll see you tomorrow!" Sakura called over the heads of the regular drunks. He looked to her, then held up his hand, rubbing the outside of his thumb against the tips of his other four fingers. Sakura replied with a nod and raised a thumbs-up over her head so he could see. She had picked up her half of the combined tips before she had slipped from behind the bar. He smiled and waved her out. Boss could handle the place for the rest of the night; almost no one came in for food later than this anyway.

She began walking back towards her home, subtly arranging the wad of cash into some recognizable order. She put the stack into her pocket, then looked up towards the sky, searching for the moon.

Somehow, in her distraction, she managed to walk directly into the back of someone walking in the same direction as her. Sakura began apologizing furiously, picking up the items she caused the woman to drop and brushing them off on her clothes.

She heard familiar laughter, "Still so sweet, but inattentive!"

Sakura actually looked at the woman jokingly scolding her, and her face broke out in happiness. She tackled the woman still on the ground and grabbed her in a hug, yelling excitedly, "Oba-chan!"

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

**You may not know:**

kanojo : sweetheart

kuso : damn it

ohayou gozaimasu : good morning

tansei : handsome

arigatou : thank you

mizu : miss

koishii : dear

shishio : librarian

baka : idiot

gaki : brat

kodomo : child

gakuto : student

kyouyu : teacher

hai : yes, okay

oba-san : aunt


	6. A Symbol

Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Naruto, but the new plot is my own.

**New Strength**

kkstev

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

The woman couldn't contain her laughter as her niece pounced on her, "First ya knock me down, and then you keep me here!"

Sakura continued smiling, but still scrambled to her feet and offered her aunt a hand up. She felt bad making such a hassle, as her aunt wasn't in the best of shape, but she was so excited. She doesn't get the opportunity to see someone so important to her very often. "Oba-chan, what are you doing here? Were you headed to the house? Why would you be going there now? I mean it's late and–"

"Relax, Kura-chan," Seijin soothed, smiling gently. She began carefully readjusting Sakura's ruffled hair, finally cupping her face in both of her hands to get the girl's full attention, "Am I not allowed to want to come and visit? I'm already embarrassed that I'm so late!"

Sakura bent down to collect the bags she had scattered after the collision, making sure that nothing had spilled out. As she was still crouched on the road, she absently asked, "Late for what?"

At her question, Sakura received an impatient look as the woman held her arms out for her bags. Sakura ignored the gesture to begin walking once again, trying to arrange her aunt's things in her arms for comfort while moving. It took a moment for Seijin to catch up and for the flush to recede from her cheeks due to the exertion, and the ultimate pace reached was slow. But Sakura had no problem matching her steps. It's not often she can relax somewhat with somebody.

"I truly hope you are not serious, Kura-chan."

Sakura looked to be in confused thought for a moment before reddening and smiling embarrassedly. She looked towards the ground and swung the bags she was carrying at her sides uncomfortably, "You didn't have to come all this way for _that_."

Seijin scoffed, nudging her niece in the side with her elbow, "Have I ever not? You can't expect me to miss _every _part of you growing up! You already seem to do it so quickly!" She smiled and shook her head slightly, seemingly lost in thought. After a few moments, she clapped her hands, making Sakura jump slightly, "Now, Kura-chan, tell me how your birthday was! And don't leave out a detail, I'm frustrated enough that I'm a day late."

"… Every detail?"

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

This waiting was getting to be seriously boring. His excited giggling at the prospect of imminent success had long since died down as he waited for his target to approach. And waited. And _waited_. Everything was planned perfectly, all he needed at this point was the target to be in range. A simple step of the plan, but it was just taking so _long_.

He sighed, staring at his hands trying to think of something else he could do that might provide more instant gratification for his current mission. Maybe there was a quicker way?

Then he heard it.

The sound was barely there, but he was trained, and trained well. The door to the office he was currently hidden in was about to be opened. Waiting for _forever_ had been worth it in all its agony – this was the moment!

The door moved inwards, and the wire he had set up so _perfectly_ snapped by the force of the door putting pressure on it. A bucket fell from its perch above the door, but the man walking through heard the abnormality, and took the opportunity to carefully step to the right, into the office.

But Naruto had planned for this, as his classic move failed on this particular target multiple times before. He knew the ANBU captain would step to the right, because the door opened in to the left, and so his elaborate scheme moved on from there.

The man's slightly narrowed eyes caught sight of the crouching Naruto lying in wait, and the boy smiled winningly. The 'target' could not believe the blonde actually _smiled_, then threw a kunai towards his legs. The man jumped upwards to dodge, hearing another wire being cut immediately before the kunai thumped into the floor. Fuming inwardly, midair, the man turned to see what looked suspiciously enough like a _pie_ coming towards him. Deciding to make the best out of this irritating situation, he utilized a miniature version of the revolving heaven technique in his hands to redirect the offending dessert.

And it ended up splattered all over Naruto's face.

in the time following, Naruto had absolutely no idea how it happened – one second everything was going according to plan, with his captain in the air, with absolutely _no_ escape, waiting to get the oh-so _classic_ pie to the face – and the next, he was eating cream himself.

He couldn't help but jump up, waving his fists, calling, "Oi, ya damn teme, what's the big idea!"

Naruto was already loud. And he was in his office. Yelling at him, with what looked like the remnants of a cream pie dripping from his face onto his clothes. Setting up traps for him, _again_.

"Naruto, what exactly is the meaning of this?"

It took Naruto a moment to realize his high decibel accusation was completely ignored. He groaned and wiped off his eyes, looking at the perfectly clean Hyuuga Neji, and muttered, "Whatta ya think? And _you're_ supposed to be the genius…"

A ghost of a smirk appeared on the stoic man's face. He was unable to keep the boastful tone from his voice as he scolded his teammate, "You will not ever be able to 'prank' me, as you would say, especially with something so utterly _ridiculous_. Really, where would you even get an idea for this? This is... _uncommon_, even for you."

"That, my constantly constipated comrade," Naruto couldn't help from giggling at that one, he had been waiting to use it for forever. Ever since he heard Teme say it... and he asked Kaka-sensei what it meant. He quickly tried to regain his composure under the glare Neji directed at him and moved to assume as wise of a face as he could manage in his current state, "is the exact reason why I _will _get you one day! You'll never even know it's coming, and I _will_ have a camera to take a whole _bunch_ of pictures, and show everyone I know! Which would actually probably take a really long time, 'cause I know people in other countries and stuff –"

"_Naruto_."

"Right! _So_ a little different version of this exact same thing worked _perfectly_ this morning when I saw it on this really good cartoon-"

"Thank you, but I have heard enough. You think you can fool any respectable ninja with such an illogical stunt? A genin fresh from the academy would be able to see through this." It took all he could for Neji to restrain from trying to shake some sense into Naruto.

"But an even simpler version worked on Kaka-sensei…"

"Ah." Neji really was not sure what to say to that. Manners drilled into him from a young age prevented him from making any tempting scathing remarks that came to mind, but there was not anything truly positive to say. So he might as well take a stab at moving Naruto along before he tried something else, or even _thought_ of anything else. "Well, in any case I am _not_ him, so vacate the premises so I can work, as _you_ should be doing as well."

Someone by the door yawned, and after a quick observation of the scene snorted slightly in amusement, "Tch, I'm even happier now that I didn't help with this. Woulda been kinda funny to see in action though…"

Neji turned to him and raised an eyebrow. It was communication enough of his surprise and disapproval. "What would you have done if you had known anyway? The exact same thing I'd guess. Telling you beforehand would've been troublesome." The genius yawned again before sitting down in one of the seats in the office, making himself comfortable. Neji and Naruto watched him, and waited for whatever it was he had to say. Shikamaru never would have stopped by just for a prank, the walk would have been too much of a strain.

"As you two are here anyway, I might as well let you know we have a new mission to work on," and with a pointed look towards Naruto, added, "a _real_ mission."

Naruto just smiled broadly again, scratching the still-clean back of his head innocently.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

"I didn't mean to upset you, oba-chan."

"Me? No, Kura-chan, I'm not important. It's _you_ I worry about," she sighed, "_always_."

"You _do_ know I can handle myself, right? It's never a big deal, and besides I riled them all up this time." Sakura couldn't bear to tell her the full truth of everything. Having no children of her own, her Aunt Seijin thought of all of her nieces and nephews as her own children, and treated them as such. It wouldn't be fair to burden her thoughts with things that cannot be changed. She would definitely feel like it's her own fault in some crazy and totally illogical way.

So she had been given the gist of the tale, which even included her real fight with Shii, but not with her parents. She is close to being finished with all of that anyway.

"I know you have a tendency to defend, kanojo, and that is what worries me. Us women are not supposed to be quite so, ah, _spirited_, you know." She chuckled as the house came into view in the distance with an amused gleam in her eye.

She seemed to think for a moment before her features became more serious, "Though I am somewhat concerned about your mother's actions. When we were kids, she is the one who fought that ideal the most furiously, more so than even myself. But now, well…"

She let the sentence hang in the air, but Sakura knew what she meant. She had seen her strong mother change even from when she was young up until now, and not for the better. It was like life was finally catching up to Ayaka, pushing her down, and she was incapable of fighting back.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

When the pair entered the house, there was quite a bit of movement in the kitchen. So, still chatting happily about much lighter topics, the pair made their way towards the smell of food.

Seijin stepped through the doorway first, spreading her arms wide for her sister. Ayaka turned uninterestedly from her cutting board, only for her eyes to widen and a smile to break out across her face, "Aneki!"

"Imouto," Seijin smiled softly and waited for her sister to wipe her hands and reciprocate the gesture, "how have you been?"

Sakura looked on with some jealously she wished she didn't feel. They were her family; sisters on the best of terms, and to have a negative emotion of any type towards them frustrated her. The siblings fought periodically, of course, but it was never serious, or hurtful. Small squabbles between sisters are normal, even as adults. It just seemed so far from her only personal sibling experience. And though people loved to say that fighting so much was normal, and that they would grow out of it, she knew in her heart that wasn't true for them. _'He should be considered an adult now, and he's never changed. And things won't be better until he does. Which just isn't going to happen. Plus I'm done growing up, and I still can see our future is not going to be pretty.' _But still, she just wished her and her brother were, or could be, like the previous generation on some sort of level.

After the personal greetings were exchanged, Seijin bowed her head slightly toward Ren, who was sitting by the kitchen table, "Ren-san."

"Seijin-gishi."

Siejin just politely smiled back, and proceeded to begin to ask the regular, polite updates on Ren's life. As he began talking about his work, Sakura scrunched up her brow in thought, still lingering behind. Even though her father regards her aunt as though she is a lesser person – not _truly_ worth his time, overlooking the fact that he is forced to deal with her due to familial relations – she still treats him kindly, as though he has always treated her right. Her aunt was just so genuinely _good_.

She didn't think she could be like that.

Sakura sighed lightly to herself, before stepping through the threshold of the kitchen and sitting down at the table. She was still thinking about herself, embarrassingly enough, about if it was possible to ever be like her aunt, when she realized she was being spoken to. Her father had left the room at some point, and she hadn't noticed, _'How did I miss that?'_

"Well, Kura-chan?"

Sakura looked up to see amusement in her aunt's flushed face, answering the first thing that came to mind that would hopefully satisfy whatever question was asked, "Yeah. Yeah of course."

There was a moment of silence before Seijin broke out laughing, while Ayaka stood by, looking simply confused. She decided to speak up tentatively, "Alright, well, I guess I'll go and get it from your bag, Aneki."

Seijin nodded while her sister wandered off, "To catch you up in case you missed anything," she smiled deviously, and Sakura couldn't help grinning and blushing a bit as well, "we have something that we want you to have."

"For what?"

"Really, let's not play this game again – you're a smart girl, think about it."

Sakura gave her a flat look, to which Seijin replied with an eyebrow raised. Sakura huffed in defeat, "Fine," she narrowed her eyes, "I know for _what_ specifically, I am aware I turned stupid sixteen. I mean _why_?"

"Koishii, don't try to be scary, it suits you too well," she smiled again as Sakura's scowl grew deeper, "and don't act all used and abused, we go through this song and dance every year."

Sakura pouted. She isn't trying to act that way - she tries mainly for the opposite in fact. But in reality, no one gets her anything real besides her aunt, and her mother in the distant past, but then Sakura had been told it was from the whole family. There really is just no point, and she didn't particularly like the idea of just being given things anyway.

Sakura truly prides herself on the work that she has done, and likes when she knows things are _hers_. Really and truly her own. Her aunt calls it stupid pride (though not in quite so coarse of language), and that she should take what she can get, that it's deserved. She knows she doesn't get what others do, she is not blind – but if her family is not willing to give, she just doesn't want to take the leftovers.

Not when she _can_ do it herself.

Now, birthday presents from her aunt, or even her mother, shouldn't fall into this category. They really do not. She just doesn't really _want_ anything material. She just wants to move on from this part of her life in one piece, and still be proud of the person that walks out on the other side.

Ayaka made her way back into the room carrying a small bag. It was deep black, and looked like velvet or satin, with a delicate silver drawstring rope at the top. She was looking down at it in her hands, with a lingering smile on her face that spoke of a wandering into the past.

When she reached the table where the other two were already seated, she looked to Sakura with that same smile still on her face. Slowly, it morphed into one of pride, lingering on all of her daughter's features in turn. When her observation was finished, the younger sibling turned to Seijin, when with bright smiles sharing a secret conversation, the sisters nodded simultaneously to each other.

'_Alright, now I'm pretty confused, and a bit scared. What could these two possibly be planning?'_

As if to prove that she had good reason for fearing, they both turned on her at that moment. Seijin was the first to voice whatever was going on.

"What is in this bag, Kura-chan, is something that is very important to both your mother and I. It's not much, so don't expect any real extravagance, but it is worth a lot to us." She unfolded her hands, and reached out to take Ayaka's, "You know we were not exactly wealthy growing up, but our 'Tou-chan tried to do everything in his power to make his childrens' lives, our lives, better than his own, or our mother's, ever was."

She paused, as her voice began to quaver towards the end. Sakura noticed her mother squeeze her aunt's hand slightly before taking over the story herself. "Otou-chan was working as a merchant, and close to Christmastime he was making a transport, and was worried about getting it back in time to get us something significant. They had little things, but nothing 'big,' as they would say. After reaching his destination, he tried leaving quickly, but the man he was delivering for stopped him, and insisted that he remain for a while to rejoice in a job well done." Ayaka laughed softly, thinking back to her father. He would have been absolutely dying on the inside, but would never be impolite enough to refuse. "He accepted, but was obviously frustrated at the delay. When asked, he said that he had been successful in finding a suitable 'big' present for his two sons, but was completely at a loss for what to get his two daughters with the little money he had."

Seijin found her voice again after getting a moment to pull herself together, "His host was appaled that he had held 'Tou-chan back, and apologized profusely. But not before leaving something for him to bring back and share with us."

"Sakura-chan, we've had this item," Ayaka gestured toward the bag, "for the majority of our lives. It made us happy, and helped us to stay close and remember 'Tou-chan once he was gone, which was not too long after this Christmas, in fact. To remember how much he cared for us, believed in us, and bragged about us to whoever would listen - including okaa-chan, who always yelled at him because she wanted to brag to him too, but he always beat her to it." The sisters looked to each other and laughed, remembering past play arguments in the house about who could make the kids sound better, and who got to talk about them to company. They calmed down quickly, and got to the point they were alluding to the entire time, "Anyway, we know you never met him, or her, but still, we want you to have it."

Sakura was stunned, unsure what exactly she was supposed to do next. She never had anything like this, something that was passed down for some significant reason. It almost made her nervous as she looked on at the bag that was suddenly much more intimidating and much less delicate. How was she supposed to take care of something like this?

Someone had nudged the little terror of a gift right in from of her. _'Just buck up and do it! You don't even know what it is yet and you're contemplating the possibility of it eating you alive!'_

So her hands reached out and pulled the thin woven string, opening the top. Sakura looked into blackness within, and so she moved to pour the contents into her open, waiting hand.

It was _beautiful_. On the tiniest, most delicate silver link chain she had ever seen was an equally small pendant, no larget than the length of her thumbnail. A 'V'-shaped slip of silver looped around the chain to keep it in place. The base of this was connected in the center to what looked to be two thin crescent moon-shaped silver pieces, pressed back to back, coming to an elegant swirl at the base on each side. Nestled safely between where the two moons attach was a final portion, formed in the shape of a drop of water, and hollowed on the inside. Shining happily from the base portion, inside the hollow of the drop was a small diamond.

With shaking fingers, she moved to unclip the impossibly tiny clasp, and secured the necklace around her neck. The pendant sat just a little bit below the hollow of her throat, sitting on the flat of her chest prominently and proudly.

Sakura couldn't help but press her fingers to the cool pendant adorning her neck, looking between the two misty-eyed women.

"It's actually white gold as well, so it won't tarnish or rust."

"It has lasted for as long as we can remember, we want it to do the same for you."

"I – I," Sakura stuttered, before reminding herself to breathe, "Thank you, it means so much." There was so much raw emotion in her voice that she was almost embarrassed. It was a necklace – something considered a fairly regular gift considering the occasion – but it was so much _more_. It was a sign of appreciation and respect, and symbol of trust and confidence. This simple but elegant piece of metal and stone passed from the hands of the grandfather she never met, to her aunt's, to her mother's, to end up in her own. It seemed like something of a tradition, maybe a legacy, if she continued the current journey the item was on someday.

She tried to articulate this significance, but out loud, all of her sentenced seemed like they would be overly dramatic or just silly. She knew this wasn't the case, so instead of trying to articulate her thoughts, she gave up rather quickly.

Words were not really necessary, though, as both her aunt and mother successfully got up and pulled her into tight embraces. She was so touched by the gesture that the necklace was, that the contact didn't even faze her.

After the few tears that managed to escape the sisters' eyes at the reaction of their puzzling girl were subtly whisked away, the atmosphere in the room was light. Smiles were easily shared, and the conversation was meaningless but fun. They didn't miss Sakura's consistent fingering for the necklace, conscience and not. There were no problems for this moment, no worries or struggles.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

When it began to get late, Sakura carried her aunt's things to the room she would be staying in for the night. Ayaka and Seijin followed behind, still chatting. After the things were set, Seijin hugged Sakura once again, "Oya suminasai, Kura-chan. Love you, and happy birthday again. I hope you're happy."

Sakura smiled again, and nodded her ascent, "Love you too, oba-chan. Thank you so much for coming."

Ayaka said her goodnights as well, and she walked with Sakura towards her room in silence. Outside her door, Ayaka hugged Sakura just as her sister had. But she spoke before releasing her firm grip, "I love you, tenshi, so much."

Sakura held tightly as well, murmuring back, "I love you too, okaa-chan."

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Shikamaru was met with complete silence. He leaned his head on the back of the chair he was sitting on, and closed his eyes. They would come around eventually, so he might as well take a midday break.

Neji found his voice first, "Are you very much serious about this?" Shikamaru simply hummed in response. He knew Neji was just trying to process the information, and that he was also trying to figure out the ever elusive 'why.'

"No way! Guys, this is gonna be so _cool_!" Naruto was shaking with excitement, already talking out with himself all the ways that he can make the mission even better. He never got a chance to do anything like this. There were already a list of techniques he had in mind that could definitely make this whole thing perfect.

The other two ANBU stared at their teammate with mixed expressions of disbelief and frustration. Well, not really Shikamaru, he was just looking. Each had expected something like this from Naruto after all. Neji, on the other hand, was unable to figure out the purpose of this mission, and was unafraid to speak up and ask.

"I will tell you guys, but you _both_," Shikamaru gave a pointed look to Naruto, "must keep it quiet. This is an S-rank mission. I – " Neji cut him off with a scoff. "Hyuuga, you've an objection?"

"Yes, actually," Neji replied haughtily, crossing his arms, "you expect me to believe that the equivalent to a traveling carnival, is S-ranked?"

Shikamaru sighed and rubbed his temples. He opened one eye to look at Neji, then sighed again, "I'm done with all this thinking, you do some now."

Neji took a moment to really consider everything that Shikamaru told him in the last few minutes. This was something of some more significance than what it appeared to be at the surface – both his team and Uchiha's were assigned to it. If it weren't high priority, the Hokage would not be sending her top two ANBU teams. The games they would be hosting were for children, and the time it was functioning it remained strictly within Fire country. It was more than just for children to have fun, there was definitely something more…

"Wow guys! Some of these events are kinda hard! I don't know if even I'd be able to do this one here. Huh, wanna try though now, seems fun."

Naruto's voice was tuned out for Neji after a moment, but he did have a bit of an epiphany at his words. It couldn't be, though, the village wasn't that desperate, was it?

"We need recruits that badly, then?"

With a nod, Shikamaru sighed out an ascent. He knew his captain had the situation figured out for the most part. It was fairly simple, actually. It would be ideal to train children in the ways of the shinobi from a young age. The timing was crucial; the recruits must be young enough to learn without bias, yet old enough to be able to make a decision on their own. And old enough to be of fighting age more quickly than usually necessary.

So he and Itachi designed what would appear to the world as a publicity appeal. The ninja of the Hidden Leaf extending their wealth and influence into the country in which they are situated. It would appeal to the civilian population in that they would have an opportunity to see their protectors in person as well.

But all of the games for the children are specially designed to test the various skills needed to be a successful leaf shinobi. They touch on everything from intelligence to tactical ability to loyalty. The games would start in the village itself, then begin to move systematically throughout Fire Country, slowly spreading outward. The best of each of the games in the villages visited will be offered training, as well as protection within the walls of Konohagakure for their families, only to swear their allegiance as an honorable Leaf shinobi.

Simple. Right. Just, _right_.

Shikamaru found himself massaging his temples once again. He stood and stretched, looking lazily around the room. "Yes, well, now that that's all cleared up –"

"Wait, wait, wait, just a second here! You can't all just forget to let me in on this. I have to know what's going on here too!"

Neji looked at the obnoxious blonde and simply raised an eyebrow, "You'll receive an appropriate response once you clean your face. Even _I_ cannot attempt to take you seriously at the moment."

"Heh." Shikamaru smirked, "We will be setting up the events and some type of consistent scoring sheets over the next few weeks. There'll be two ANBU teams and a few jonin and chunin rotating regularly, though our team and Uchiha's will be starting off and making sure things run smoothly. Well, I'm done," He yawned and scratched his head, "I'll be on the roof, uh, thinking." He smiled a bit as he left, "Yeah, thinking."

There was silence for a few seconds after his departure, so Naruto broke it with another giggle. His captain really just didn't want to know.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

**You may not know:**

aneki : older sister

imouto : younger sister

gishi : sister-in-law

'tou-chan : father (highly informal)

oya suminasai : good night


	7. Moving Forward

Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Naruto, but the new plot is my own.

**New Strength**

kkstev

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

She found herself staring at the ceiling once again, unable to sleep. Should your own thoughts _really_ be able to keep you awake? _'Seems a bit counterproductive, to be honest.'_

Well, she wasn't going to get anywhere like this.

Sakura needed a good view of the sky, so she peeked out her window. It was late enough in the night where her favorite sights had already moved past the range of vision allowed by the glass. Sakura scrunched her nose, knowing she would have to leave the comfort of her room, but still turned to grab a sweatshirt in order to fight the lingering winter cold of the night outside. She crept as quietly as she could through the silent house, pausing a moment to unlock the back sliding door.

As soon as she stepped outside, she shivered slightly. Taking a deep breath of clean, fresh air, Sakura took the time to adjust to the lower temperature. She had not realized quite how stifling the house had become until she finally left it.

Still standing at the threshold of the door, she paused, just listening to the sounds of the night that waited for her.

At a sudden scratching sound breaking the peace of the night, Sakura jumped violently, heart pounding erratically as she searched out the source of the noise. Not daring to move a muscle, she tried to quiet her body in order to listen for any type of threat in the dark. Hearing it again, she let out the breath she had been holding after seeing Hito's outline behind the ricepaper door. Sakura opened the door once again, allowing Hito to join her outside. She patted his head as he came out, and she watched for a moment with a smile as he surveyed his yard for any signs of intruders.

Remembering the reason she left the comfort of her bed in the first place, Sakura sighed, figuring there was no more avoiding her thoughts.

Still taking her time to milk the last bit of procrastination possible, she followed Hito out into the yard, her gaze focused upwards. Each step was slow and deliberate, at times balancing on the tips of her toes, until she reached the small deck. Sakura sat down, then laid softly on her back, peering up at the sky.

Stars in formations she was thoroughly familiar with, but never properly named, twinkled back at her. She eyed each of them in turn, and strained her sight to try to see even the dimmest lights within the groups. Giving up, she finally let her gaze wander to the almost-full moon, lingering there in the stars peacefully.

She felt her breathing begin to slow, relaxing her body and lulling it by the comforting sight. She realized that she had also been touching the necklace that remained around her neck, and smiled slightly. Even though it had been hours since the initial shock of receiving the gift, it was still amazing for her.

But this was part of the issue. Three simple words had been tossed around a lot tonight. _'I love you.'_ It was so easy to say, especially caught up in the moment as she was, but also so completely complicated and frustrating and just, well… _'Confusing. It's just a concept that doesn't make sense. But is this just for me, or for everyone? Or am I just the only one who needs to complicate these types of things?'_

"Ugh," Sakura groaned aloud, and rubbed at her eyes with the palms of her hands. Taking a deep breath, she began sorting through what she should know. Love was for your family, always. Did that mean it was so innate that it didn't feel like anything? That it was so deep that it was just _there_? But then why is love such a coveted emotion if it was so easy?

None of it really made sense, but she _needed _it to. Because it was worrying… there _had_ to be something wrong with her, to be able to so easily doubt the regular ties she should have to her family. Regardless of anything that may happen with them, family is still supposed to be unbreakable.

'_Maybe you do actually feel that love, but it is just not something you're aware of? When you speak the words, there is definitely a spark of feeling, right?'_

But she knew it was a lie. There is no way she could lie so blatantly to herself, when she is basically incapable of lying successfully to others. The term 'love' in itself makes her uncomfortable, and so she rarely speaks it aloud. But when she has to, when social cues make anything but that singular, dreaded response highly inappropriate, she ends up thinking on it – anywhere from a few minutes to many hours, like tonight. But still, there's _nothing_.

Besides an important part of herself she is robbing from her family, she worried about her life to come as well. What kind of person can't love? _'It makes the increasingly small number of friends you have make sense. Not that you have to love them, but there should at least be a type of caring there. Indifference to their presence, or lack thereof, is just so not normal.'_

No wonder no one wants to be in her company. She understood, really, why people don't like her...

Sakura stopped her train of thought, at least for the moment. She cannot deal with this, not just yet. At the moment it may be too much to confront. She believed herself strong, but not yet strong enough for this - so it could wait. So instead she cleared her mind, and just watched the clouds that caressed the moon. The amount of light it exuded was simply amazing, and the world around her was basked in a glow. It was so bright that her eyes had needed to adjust to the illumination of the night after stepping from the pitch black house.

But soon she began to struggle once again with her thoughts trying to creep in on her, and almost began to panic. She gripped her head with both hands, as though they could act as physical barriers to what she knew was coming. _'Not now, please, I just can't! I refuse, for once, to see this truth! Not yet, please! Please, please, please just stop!'_

As her heart rate began to rise, tears pricking at her eyes, a familiar warmth settled itself underneath her raised arm. Sakura couldn't help but begin laughing – a chocked, anxious sound – and hug her unusually perceptive companion.

Hito laid his head across her stomach and let out a deep sigh. Sakura lifted his head level with her smaller one, cradling it in both hands, and looked directly into his intelligent eyes. With a gentle kiss lain on his forehead, just above his eyes, she whispered faintly, "Arigatou. I love you so much, Hito."

She felt it when she said it, really _felt_ it, and still felt a warmth for him as he snuggled in closer to her side.

It gave her hope.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

"I love you, man!"

Naruto yelled loud enough for everyone on the busy street to hear. As people began to stare that the spectacle, Sasuke did everything he could to keep the red tint off his cheeks, trying to get his _dobe_ of a best friend off of him.

With a violent shove, he hissed "What the hell? Keep your damn raman hands off of me!" Sasuke brushed off his high-collared shirt as though it would remove any evidence of the hug, then began walking down the street once again with his hands securely in his pockets.

Once he calmed enough to realize that Naruto never began moving again, he stopped and looked back impatiently. At the look on his friend's face, Sasuke rolled his eyes and huffed, signaling for the blonde to catch up. After an unusual level of quiet for many minutes, Sasuke felt bad for being so harsh, offering, "I don't particularly feel the need to fuel Ino's little 'practical joke' rumor any further," as explanation.

Naruto immediately became beet red, looking to Sasuke's face, shivering to himself, and agreeing whole-heartedly. "Seriously, where does she even come up with this stuff?"

Walking a few more paces in silence, Sasuke and Naruto made eye contact, immediately followed by another shiver at their shared repulsion.

"Anyway," Naruto continued as though nothing transpired, "it's sooo cool that you're coming! I didn't wantcha to think I got tired of your sulky ass and left ya all by yourself!"

Sasuke groaned, covering his face with his hands, growling out each word, "Dobe, think about the words that come out of your obnoxious mouth _before_ you say them every once in a while."

Naruto took a moment to repeat his words in his head, and began reddening once again. He scratched the back of his head, then smiled, "Yeah," he replied, dragging out the word, "probably should watch that for a while."

Over the initial embarrassment, the friends couldn't help but laugh together at the ridiculously absurd situation. But as soon as they passed through the gates of the Uchiha district, Sasuke's demeanor became completely subdued, and even Naruto quieted somewhat.

But the shift in their behavior was convenient, as the conversation they had been having before the awkwardness was important. "So anyway, this mission is, ah, interesting."

"Yeah, it's gonna to be fun, and I'm glad you're coming! But do you know why we're doin' this? I mean it's great and all, but there's just no way lookin' good for the civilians in Fire Country is the only reason for all this effort. Can't help but think of Kakashi-sensei –"

"Look underneath the underneath." Sasuke murmured, completing Naruto's thought. The blonde simply nodded, both thinking about the situation. The secrecy about everything is what was the most unnerving. And Naruto couldn't help thinking about the weird and obviously incomplete conversation in Neji's office, which he shared with his raven-haired companion.

After hearing all of this, Sasuke couldn't help thinking about his father's reaction as well. Not that it was drastic in any way, but he understood his father's subtle mood shifts. Once he got the request from the Hokage for ten Uchiha officers for an indefinite length mission outside the village, Fugaku had been furious.

At the time, Sasuke had been unaware as to the reason for his father's rage – that was, until he was one of the officers chosen. Then he was briefed on what was expected of him, but not _why_. And he was thinking that the elusive 'why' is what infuriated his father.

But they had nothing to go on. It was like they had this complicated puzzle laid out incomplete before them, where they had small sections completed. Just small chunks of seemingly random information. But the pieces that connect these sections were missing, preventing them from being able to see the whole picture.

It was frustrating as _hell_.

So they vented some of their aggravation at the situation to each other, but also some of their excitement. However Sasuke tried to contain it, he was eager to have a chance to get out of the village with Naruto and some of his friends for a while. He loved the police force, but he also missed the excitement of the regular active duty ninja. Even though the mission was not really the average S-rank, there was definitely promise.

Arriving at the main house in the district, both boys stepped in and slipped off their shoes at the door. They made their way through the house and toward the kitchen, as per usual. It was still the middle of the day, and so they found that neither of Sasuke's parents were around.

"Okaa-san is at the market and Otou-san is still at the precinct."

Both teenagers jumped at the voice, immediately falling into defensive positions. They only relaxed once they heard another voice ring out in laughter. Naruto joined almost immediately, while Sasuke scowled at the new voice for a moment before laughing along as well.

Itachi looked at his little brother and smiled slightly before he noticed, then nodded in greeting to Naruto. He then turned his attention back to the paperwork laid out on the table in front of him.

Finally coming down from his laughing high, Shisui wiped one of his eyes, "Geez, you two are like scared rabbits! What, did you forget you were ninja and that neither of us are concealing our chakra signatures?"

As Itachi just shook his head slightly, Naruto pouted and jumped on the defensive, "No! We were talkin' about a super top-secret mission that's ridiculously cool and awesome and we were too busy paying attention to _that_ that we couldn't spare any to pay attention to _you_." Looking proud of himself for getting the whole sentence out in one breath, his face quickly morphed into one of slight worry as he looked to Itachi. The boy faced him, slapping him on the shoulder. If he had not seen Naruto's intention, Itachi would not have had time to prepare himself _not_ to act. "Now you, Itachi my man, are always worth my attention!"

Shisui burst out laughing once again, as Sasuke again tried and failed to contain himself. Even Itachi smirked, looking at Naruto's thoroughly confused face. Unable to resist, he prolonged the boy's suffering, "Well, Naruto-kun, though I am grateful for your kind words, I apologize for being unable to return the sentiments. Though I do encourage and support all of your life decisions, and wish you only the best on any future endeavors."

His relatives burst out in a new wave hilarity, and Itachi's smirk evolved to a small smile. Naruto was still just staring at Itachi as though he had grown a head out of a rather uncomfortable place. The look just continued to make Sasuke and Shisui laugh uncontrollably.

After a while Sasuke took pity on his best friend, and in between deep breaths to calm himself, he managed to get Naruto up to speed. "Hey dobe… you remember… like ten minutes ago… when we… were talking… about what… Ino 's been… saying?"

Naruto immediately paled and took his hand off Itachi's shoulder, shaking it as though burned. He began jumping backwards and muttering incoherently. The most that was distinguishable was an endless string of, "Ew, ew, ew," interspersed with a periodic, "_Kuso_," and, "Oh Kami-sama help me, it's just not _true_!"

His response was just even more fuel to the fire that was spurring on the Uchiha cousins. Eventually, though, they eased out of their hilarity, Shisui gasping for air, wiping both of his eyes once again.

"Aw man, you guys sure are fun after spending most of the day with mister stick-up-his-ass-turned-sideways-lit-on-"

"Shisui."

"What, cuz? You know it's all outta love," with a pointed look in Naruto's direction, he draped his arm over Itachi's shoulders with a smile and a waggling of his eyebrows, "you know, _that_ kinda love." Sasuke sniggered and Naruto simply crossed his arms and turned up his nose, refusing to react and giving them a reason to laugh again.

"Well, you two arrived at an opportune time. We have been discussing the details of the… what had it been, Naruto-kun? 'Super top-secret' mission, I believe it was."

Arms still crossed, Naruto turned toward Itachi with his mouth hanging open. Realizing that his superior did not plan to elaborate, he sputtered out, "B-b-but how'd you know?"

Dragging his eyes from the papers in front of him, Itachi simply raised an eyebrow. Naruto forgot his surprise rather quickly, looking at Itachi seriously and explaining, "I've been around this family enough to be able to get a buinch of your too-cool-to-speak-Uchiha-language, but Itachi, I gotta tall ya man, you are not an Uchiha that I understand."

There were a few more moments of silence where all of the boys simply waited to see what would happen next. Everyone held their breath as they watched Itachi just continue to stare at Naruto.

But in the end, it _was_ Naruto, and he didn't know what chord he just struck. So Itachi simply explained, "Naruto-kun, who is it that you believe is the initial designer of this operation?"

Silence.

"Really?" Naruto yelled, becoming excited again, "So that means you can tell us what the real deal is, and why we're going, and where, and how long, and –"

"Naruto-kun, otouto, I will tell you everything, but I do hope," he looked at Naruto, "that Nara-san and," turning to Sasuke, "Otou-san explained the significance of complete discretion to those not directly involved."

Sasuke, Naruto, and even Shisui settled down comfortably around the kitchen table, prepared for whatever might be thrown at them.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

The days began to pass somewhat normally again, and Sakura did her best to keep herself busy. She found that she was working more hours, wandering more often into the forests, and even just exploring further than she ever had from Sengaku. She even went to school the days it was bearable (Shii's retribution was focused on making her life more miserable _there_), but still managed to keep her marks as high as they always have been.

Less time to really think about the disturbing can of worms she inadvertently opened.

But it was satisfying to know she was moving forward a bit, that she was able to support herself for when the time truly came. And as summer vacation was slowly creeping closer, she became more confident in her ability to save money and plan her future. Even time to act on it.

To show that she truly does have a devotion to medicine, she hoped to find some place to work over the extended break that would directly relate to her field. That way, when she seeks out doctors later on, they will see she has some working understanding beyond just the textbooks she has come across.

But there was still some time before all of that, it was still only May.

For now, she just wanted to get to bed. It had been a long night, as her boss had been teaching her some of the basics of how to tend bar, using the excuse that he was 'getting too old.' Each time he said it, Sakura laughed it off, playing along, yet knowing the real reason he was pushing her – because he knew she could make more money that way.

According to him, _What kinda idiot drunkard wouldn't wanna toss away alla his cash to a purdy lil' thing givin' him his alcohol?_ Sakura figured he did have a point, where with drunk vision, she may be morphed into something more desirable. Plus, she would be supplying the precious nectar of intoxication. Overall, more tips.

She knew it was a kind of twisted way to think, but it was still honest work in the end. There was the opportunity to hone in her apparently failing people skills, and get to move around while she worked. But to be perfectly frank, more important than anything else, she did very much need the money.

Resigned to keep her thoughts along those safe lines, she trudged up the stairs intending to make an escape directly into her room. Without much surprise though, she heard arguing in the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, she found herself sneaking back down to settle in the living room. She knew the perfect spot to hear, but not be seen.

It's not like she wanted to torture herself with listening to her parents' petty arguments, but there have been times where useful information could be picked out of the chaos. Though allowing her to live like an adult, her parents treated her as a child, and felt no need to inform her of things that would no doubt affect her. So she needed to keep a few steps ahead by any means available.

If she hadn't heard the argument a few weeks ago, the house might have been taken to repay some of her family's debt. She was lucky she had enough saved to take care of it before her parents screwed things up even more.

But the fight tonight was different. She heard her own name being thrown around quite a bit.

'_Well, this just can't be good.'_

She found herself listening more carefully, trying to first figure out why they were talking about her, and then why it could be cause for conflict.

'_Now this is irony if I've ever seen it, they're talking about my future too. Seriously though, _why_?'_ But it soon became apparent. No matter how many false smiles and fake encouragement they toss her way – only when sober in her father's case, of course – they truly didn't think she could succeed. But the way she heard their words, it was not like they were _unsure_, no, definitely not unsure. They spoke as though they _knew _she would fail, and were fighting about ways to combat her imminent fall.

She felt as though someone punched her straight to the gut, as all the breath she had in her body left her.

How _could_ they?

It was worse that they were talking behind her back about this, too. But not because of what most would think, the conspiratory thoughts that most worried about in others. From where Sakura was sitting, the fact that none of these truly, truly painful beliefs were spoken to her face meant that they had more confidence in them. These were their true thoughts laid out for Sakura to suffer through. Why would someone willingly crush another's dreams, even if they believed them doomed to fail? No, they would smile and nod to the poor idiot's face, then talk about the reality behind their back.

She thought she might hyperventilate. The shallow breathing she was doing was barely getting the necessary oxygen she needed to her body, and the most she could do was try to calm her thoughts rather than her body. If one relaxed, the other would follow.

Sakura knew – she _knew_ – but it still hurt so much to hear the truth from her parents' mouths. No one believed she was good enough, except _maybe _her aunt, though even that she began to doubt at this point.

Knowing there was no useful information to gather here, Sakura tried to make it back upstairs before she finally snapped. She couldn't, not here. It would be proving their arguments on the side of her weakness.

Finding herself upstairs, alone, Sakura completely broke down. She cried her eyes out into her pillow, covering her head with the sheets and curling in on herself around a second pillow. All of the noise she made was deeply muffled and barely audible.

When she became irritated with the wet spot on her pillow clinging uncomfortably to her cheek, Sakura found herself coming back to herself. The simple thought about the inconvenience of her tears had made her realize what she was doing was pointless. She knew what she had to do, and _what_ she could do, for quite a long time. And putting this behind her was just another one of those things.

It just gave her more of a reason to prove herself, to prove them wrong.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

The plans were almost complete. He loved his village to his very core, and desired nothing more than to protect it, but at the same time he felt somewhat uncomfortable with this entire mission. His Hokage told him that the village was in need of more skilled defenders. The thought was valid and, from what he could see himself, quite apparent.

But he had dedicated his _life_ to the Leaf and it's inhabitants. More so than many could ever even hope to imagine. He was born here, this was his _home_, where his family was, his _life_ was.

Was it right to ask another to give themselves so wholly to a home that is not their own?

He supposed that there was no harm in offering, and letting those who stepped forward decide their fate for themselves. But still, he didn't think civilians could really comprehend what being a shinobi truly meant. He knew the life he was moving towards from an early age, and still never fully approved of some of the shinobi ways, but he also knew it was his duty to use the strength he was given so much of to protect those precious to him.

But it did not really even matter what he thought.

Itachi looked into the flickering flame on top of his desk, allowing himself a moment to think over all that he had done. There was no mistaking it – they were ready. The plans he worked so diligently on were completed, and were going to be put to action as the mission commenced as designed.

His conscience bit back at him somewhat, but it was easily suppressed. He was a shinobi after all – many of the things he did in the line of duty did not sit particularly well with his conscience.

He blew out the candle, immersing the room in darkness. Familiarity with his surroundings allowed him to effortlessly find his bed, rolling to his back with his arms propping his head upwards. Unable to sleep, Itachi continually tried to tell himself his conscience really was overruled by his mind.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

She didn't want to cry anymore.

So she decided she wouldn't cry.

She found herself coping with things in different ways in order to push back the useless leaking from her eyes. There was a lot of staring at the moon. It was just such a comfort, always _there_. Even on a cloudy night, the location of the moon could be made out by the faint glow behind the cloud cover. On a new moon, Sakura was fascinated as well. The outline of the heavenly rock could be discerned, and it was like a new beginning.

And it happened multiple times a year. Like it was possible to start fresh whenever you wanted. Like Sakura tried quite a bit over the passing months.

She knew she was simply waiting for the hourglass to run out on her time in school, in Sengaku, so she could do what she really wanted with her life, but that didn't make the wait any better. She always tried to tell herself that it was only a few years, only a year and a half, only a year, only, only, _only_… but that didn't make it any easier. Now was now, and now was not some indiscriminant time from now.

It was hard, but it was reality.

So Sakura searched for things to keep herself on track during the time she was waiting to finish. The necklace given to her, no matter the new information gleaned from the bearers since it's presentation, was precious to her. It signified hope, hope that she had a family that truly cared about her.

Just that maybe they had a fucked up way of showing it. But that was all fine, as long as she had that tiny spark that it might be better.

The thought of the necklace and its significance pushed the teenager to have a newfound interest in physical manifestations to remind her of what is important about her life.

Something she could see each and every day, and have a secret that gave her strength that no one outside of herself understood.

The most noticed, and least understood, of these reminders was the appearance one day of black streaks in her otherwise natural pink hair. Many did not, in fact, notice at all – or if they did, they did not show it. Those that did acknowledge the change merely scoffed, whispering behind conspicuous hands that she was simply, _finally_, trying to fit in with the rest of the school. That she was trying to be something she wasn't, and it was apparent, and ugly, and pathetic, and...

And Sakura laughed.

If anyone ever bothered to actually ask why, she would simply say because she wanted to.

She was just playing with her hair, right? Showing her uniqueness and whatever else may go through a teenager's mind.

But it really was so much more.

How could anyone understand that the hour or so she spent with a confusing box of hair dye and aluminum foil was to remind her of who she was? Bring her back to herself if she found herself going astray? The black, pure black, mixed in with cotton candy pink demonstrated that beneath whatever type of exterior she had, she had layers. The contrast to what people saw from the outside, the miniscule part of her appearance _she_ could control to fit herself. The black was the confusion, the darkness, the fear, the depression, the times where she lost hope. What she hid.

Which meant it was also her future. The darkness mixed into her life was what made her strong, and for that she must be grateful. What she tells herself when she _needs_ to hear it. She cannot afford to forget; otherwise she is afraid she really will be consumed by the darkness that fights to push itself to the forefront every day.

And really, who would bother to save her then?

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

**You may not know:**

otouto : younger brother

* * *

><p>AN : Hey guys! Just wanted to make a quick note here for everyone, asking a favor from you that I hoped I would never have to do, but... Please review! I work so, _so_ hard on all of these chapters, as writing is such a struggle for me. I edit it myself time and time again to try to get it as perfect as I can for you all.

Then when I post it, I get hundreds of hits, and people favorite and follow, and it's exciting! But almost no one reviews, and I want to see what you all really think. I would really appreciate it so much it I could get feedback on anything you want to tell me about the story, or my writing, or whatever you want!

Thanks so much again, everyone, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

~ kkstev ~


	8. Lurking in the Shadows

Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Naruto, but the new plot is my own.

**New Strength**

kkstev

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

The only times when she was totally aware of herself seemed to be was when she was alone. Working, relaxing, and planning were interspersed with periods of deep contemplation, where Sakura found herself uncertain about an interaction she had had at some point during the day. She would find herself trying to remember what was said, and failing. Only recalling that words popped out of her mouth without much thought. Instant responses that caused, always quite memorably, some reason for awkwardness or tension in the rest of the interaction. Well, admittedly, usually only from her own perspective.

But still, it was truly vexing.

Mostly because she felt that, though nothing tangible in particular had changed over the last months, _something_ did. Almost like she was losing that unbreakable reliance on herself only, and in response began spitting out random bits of information about herself that she did not plan to say. The words just seemed to come out, and again, these pieces she always remembers. After, Sakura would almost want to slap herself, realizing that talking about herself had been uncalled for, and that no one had actually asked.

Forget vexing, it was downright frightening.

As she sat cross-legged in the grass, her fingers stilled from petting Hito's back, suddenly gripping a chunk of fur rather tightly. Hito raised his head and made eye contact with Sakura, who's wide gaze was unblinking and unfocused, and he began to whine uncertainly. It's like her epiphany was palpable.

Sakura abruptly realized that being alone was wearing on her. When in the presence of others, she was unconsciously reaching out by making herself more relatable. But people were untrustworthy, and incapable of being truly reliable, and so she was setting herself up for pain and failure and – _'Okay, okay, breathe, and focus. There are many options here to fix this, though some are more unpalatable than others. But should still be considered equally before making a choice that will rectify this situation.'_

Absolutely none of her peers here, if they could even be considered that, were honorable, so finding a friend to be with to relieve her social needs was out. Professionals were out of the question as well, as she had no money she would be willing to part with so frivolously. And, by her father's thinking, she would forever be labeled as crazy. Not that she thought even a _professional_ would have a different attitude than the others in Sengaku, just that they would _ethically_ have to keep their snooty opinions to – _'Stop. Focusing, remember?'_ Okay, so then, she could travel and try to make friends, but that would be inconvenient and bring up some difficult realities that would be better off untouched for now… So, it was settled.

She would simply have to change herself back. Sit, think, focus and organize her own head. Perhaps write concrete lists of priorities to keep as reminders when she feels as though she is wandering. And of course, be constantly vigilant of her behavior when others are around.

It would definitely be beneficial to return to normalcy before graduation, and before the real search for a permanent life started.

Not to mention safer.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

This was _stupid_. Really, it seemed like a great idea at first. He was able to play around and set up, and, then – watch. He had to sit around and _watch_ these flailing civilian children try to complete tasks he could easily do with a blindfold, one hand tied to a boulder, both legs glued to –

Well, yeah.

He knew that they were by no means ninja, but _really_? It was almost sad. They would trip on their own feet and get a teeny tiny scrape, then they would cry. _Cry_! Come on!

Oh look, there goes another one. Naruto snorted at the sight, and heard Sasuke growl next to him. Broke his pencil too. Looked like he was contemplating using it as a makeshift senbon.

That may be a bit much – is _was_ Teme, though, so whatever, he liked to make kids cry – but they _were_ still kids either way. Not to say Naruto didn't understand his friend's frustration. Almost none of these children had come anywhere close to meeting the qualifications Shikamaru and Itachi set. They actually changed it slightly over the time to be more lenient, thinking they had originally expected too much from the civilians. That _barely_ worked, but it was something.

The only reason he wasn't going absolutely crazy in all the time they have spent on the road was because he got to see his friends regularly. Apparently his own team, Itachi's, and the police force members were assigned to this mission indefinitely, the latter always being in uniform as a comfort to the villagers. So they were stuck until Baa-chan decided they could come back. But the others who were working this incognito recruiting mission rotated every couple of weeks, so he had some entertainment in seeing more of his precious people.

Naruto stared off from the judging podium, away from the sad sight unfolding before him, and got lost in thought. Beside him Shikamaru and Sasuke noticed his blank look, and stared disbelievingly at each other for a moment, that _Naruto_ of all people was thinking so intently. With accepting shrugs, they brushed it off after what happened yesterday. He deserved a little slack. All of what had been happening recently had to strongly effect someone with such a bright outlook on life, who was so dedicated to his home.

When they did finally find someone who had a hope of being trained, what happened after was just upsetting. Naruto felt his eyebrows furrow, and he still was suffering somewhat from the shock of it all. It was about a year and a half since they actually started on the road outside of the village, and they only picked up sixteen new recruits. None of which, he felt guilty enough to even think, would be great. But it was true; they were bound to be average, and just take some of the strain off of the more seasoned shinobi. Probably no higher than chunin, if even _that _much. At least this way though, the highly skilled could focus only on things that require their talent, and not waste time on anything less.

They had gotten a lot from inside the village itself, which was a plus. Even though civilians, many still had the Will of Fire burning deeply within them, prepared to work themselves to protect their home. He was proud that his village was so strong, and Naruto couldn't help but wonder how they were doing with their training so far.

But the luck at that time was definitely overshadowed by what happened beyond the village walls, when they approached a child and their family for recruiting. Though the picking was slim, there were definitely much more than the sixteen that accepted who were propositioned in the first place. The rate of rejection was way too high.

Though it was the reactions of some of them that was just _heartbreaking_.

Did they not know what Leaf shinobi did for them? What _he_ did for them? Everyone's sacrifices of precious people in defense, in the name of good? Naruto knew he always had, and will continue for the rest of his life, protecting his innocent people of the Land of Fire.

Even when it quickly became clear that the civilians most certainly did not have even the slightest clue.

Every time a prospect uttered the word shinobi with hate, Naruto would shudder. Every time a prospect muttered the word repeatedly in complete confusion, Naruto would hang his head. And every time, like yesterday and too many times before, when a recruit would run, literally _run_, screaming the word without relent in unadulterated terror, it was everything Naruto could do to not completely break down.

And with their personalities, it was always himself or Shisui – sharingan safely deactivated – who began the offers of training before allowing a captain to take over. So they _always_ got the worst of the emotions thrown at them.

It insistently forced the question of what were things like for these people? What had been done to them that they would think so horribly of the protectors of their country? What had he been missing all these years?

Regardless of what it was, the same thing would happen after each failed attempt at aiding Konoha. Whoever was closest, Itachi, Shisui, or Sasuke, the most talented genjutsu specialists of the Uchiha, would make the kid and his family simply forget their request.

And no matter how much Naruto begged, they would never peek into their past to see why they reacted the way they did.

So he continued to contemplate _why_, because he was restricted from asking around. According to Itachi, they could not have any of the villages they passed through be suspicious of their real motives, and, "_Yes Naruto-kun, talking freely about shinobi in any way counts as suspicious."_ Stupid orders and all that.

But Itachi wasn't here, now was he? Both he and his team had gone to do one of their regular rounds to check up on the progress of Orochimaru. They were usually gone for about a week, sometimes longer if they ran into trouble. It was a main part of the reason as to why his team had this assignment. Sure, both Itachi and Shikamaru designed the program, but only one is really needed on location at a time for operation. Neji's team, which included Shikamaru, was already dispensed solely for this cause. Itachi and his squad were needed for the initial set-up, but the extending time beyond that was just a cover. Their current assignment was to help suppress Sound and their leader until Konoha was prepared for them. They were careful to only leave when the secondary squads were rotating, so their absence was not suspicious to anyone beyond the innermost circle.

A maniacal cackling began in Naruto's head as he crafted a few devious schemes, while outwardly tapping his fingers together ominously. His eyes shifted all around him to locate his target for interrogation…

"Get off it dobe, don't even think it. We have our orders."

Naruto whined, "But _teme_! How do you always _know_? It's gotta be like, cheating to use your stupid Sharin-"

Sasuke immediately clamped a hand over his mouth, halting the blonde's words. He glared in his direction, hissing, "Shut it, dobe, and I didn't. You're just obvious," though once he removed his hand he looked more tired than angry. Consenting slightly, he went on, "Listen, I know it's dull, but we gotta do it. Maybe later tonight we can sneak off and go train in the woods or something. But if we do anything stupid now and get caught, Itachi will skin _me_ and leave _you _to Genma and Shisui." It said a lot, how bored he sounded when he said it, as though the threat was so constantly hovering around them that it was commonplace.

"I guess I'm supposed to pretend I didn't hear any of that?" Shikamaru yawned.

"Hey, you should come!" Naruto said excitedly, not really listening to what he said, "I know you're lazy and all, but even _you_ should be down for some training! It's been _forever_ since we got to do _anything fun_."

"That's because we're undercover, Naruto," Shikamaru answered, "but whatever. You go do useless, strenuous, _un_-fun stuff, I'm gonna relax here. Too troublesome and all."

"It's fine, Nara, just don't rat us out. Do what you gotta do, but at this point even I'm getting a little stir-crazy," Sasuke waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Mhmm." And with that, Shikamaru put his head down after he saw Neji signal for the next event across the field.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

This was definitely a lot harder than she had originally thought. Changing yourself is hard, and a goal, she quickly realized, that has to be _constantly_ remembered _all_ the time or else it wouldn't work. Tiring to say the least.

And it wasn't even _that_ successful yet.

Sakura approached a small clearing and lay down on her back, utilizing both arms behind her head as a pillow. She watched the sway of the trees, enjoying the unnaturally warm day in February.

After much struggling, she found that she could keep more thoughts to herself with almost everyone, as long as it was possible to talk to _someone_. So, as to ration things out and keep one person from knowing _everything_ she was willing to share, Sakura found herself with three semi-confidants. Two of which were quite unlikely, and one, not so much.

She visited her aunt as much as she could. On some days when she was taking a, uh, _break_, from school, she would spend the morning and afternoon on paths winding through the forests, her place of peace. She always made sure to get all of her work done before it even started to get dark. If she had the night off, or her boss forced a night off on her, Sakura would make her way from the trees and travel to her aunt's home a few towns away.

Seijin would always welcome her with open arms, and they would hug and catch each other up on the basics of their lives. The simple things. And Sakura would always pretend she didn't notice the look of joy when Seijin saw her father's necklace securely around her niece's neck. In return, Seijin would pretend that she thought the black marring her niece's beautiful was nothing more than a passing teenage fad.

Normally after greeting, the two would go out for food, always at the same small shop close to Seijin's home. Every time Sakura would try to pay, Seijin would scold her teasingly for disrespecting her elders until she won the check for herself. She would then proceed to laugh at Sakura's defeated look as she paid.

The conversations they had were more normal than Sakura was ever used to, more two-sided, and she felt freer to open up. Deciding that her aunt was more than trustworthy, she figured that problems revolving around her peers were the safest to broach. So when these things came up, Sakura would let loose about the judgment of those that were 'popular,' the somewhat creepy hero-worship of those that were not (as they mistook her most times for one of 'popular' people, thought she had no idea why), and the uncaring and more than likely _unintentional_ frustration Kouhi continually puts her through.

But that was always the limit of topics Sakura would speak about with her.

When she was in school, during her free periods, Sakura found solace within the walls of the library. Many times she could be found reading new medical texts – the ones Shinki had ordered specifically for her benefit. Though as much as the new information was well worth Sakura's time, she could never deny the pull of fiction stories and losing herself, for however brief a period, within the words of another world.

Surprisingly enough, Sakura had found some comfort in more than just books in that library. Shinki was one of the first genuine people she'd ever met, altruistic almost to a fault, and honestly interested in others' well being. And the woman found a bit of a project in Sakura the first day she had come through the doors.

Growing more comfortable with the other's continued presence, the two would find themselves sitting across from each other at a table amongst the stacks, chatting at a level respectable for the library. When no one else was around – which was quite often, in fact – they would get a chance to speak seriously. The topic in these moments was about each of their families.

Shinki had lost all of hers, everyone from husband to grandchildren, to merciless killers while traveling. Sakura was quite understandably appalled, but had no real words of consolation to give. She was so unused to being somebody's trusted person that she simply did not know what to say. But it seemed that just being allowed to speak about them, and remember good times, was enough for Shinki. Though she never did give details about the day they were lost.

In return, the elderly woman asked Sakura about her own family. It took time for her to relent, especially with the guilt of even _having_ a family when such a good person did not. But eventually she spoke of them, though never to the true extent that should be explained. Having lived and experienced much more, Shinki always found some light in the situation, though she legitimately sympathized with the darkness. She also always seemed to be apologizing, rationalizing that such poor things should not happen to anyone, never mind one so young and bright. She always promised Sakura that things would be better.

Though she certainly did not understand the logic, Sakura would smile, and nod, and accept what her elder said without protest. And she always felt better afterwards for having spoken with her.

But that was always the limit of topics Sakura would speak about with her.

Having the opportunity to vent at times about the past and present, Sakura found the most improbable source for a confidant about her future.

During the times when she was in school, and called to the office, her principal would be there as encouragement. Long ago had she broken through his shell of stone: cold and unfeeling. At least when they were behind closed doors, that is. In the hallways, or even in the waiting room outside his office, he would be unwavering in his authority. The moment the door closed, he was more of an unlikely friend, willing to actually _listen_ to her, and help where he was capable.

Sakura sat up, becoming irritated with the bugs that chose to make a meal out of her in the long grass. Jumping up to her feet, she checked around briefly and found a decent sized boulder to perch herself upon. Brushing it off briefly, she sat atop it cross-legged, and thought back to when her principal's demeanor actually changed.

It was almost two years ago now, a few days after she turned sixteen. She had dropped off her first 'extra assignment,' but had not heard anything about it for a day or two. Finally, she was called in again, though not exactly for the reason she had expected.

The principal seemed to be almost seething silently, and curious, Sakura had politely asked why. He asked why she was wasting her obvious talent. Why she was being so brainless for such an intelligent girl. Why she would want to spend years studying _animal_ medicine rather than _human_ medicine. Why she was throwing away a chance to be one of the first women to actually make a name for herself in this world in one of the most positive of ways.

Sakura had let him run himself out, before asking if she may be blunt and truthful with him. Frustrated, he had said, "By all means, be my guest," and was definitely caught off guard when she began by stating that people were simply ungrateful. Obviously perplexed, he allowed her to go on.

In Sakura's eyes, not all people were good people. In fact, most were not. This does not have to mean that they are all murderers or thieves, but just that they don't have a kind heart. It is these, self-entitled, self-deserving, self-important people that Sakura could not envision herself slaving for. The kind of people that, no matter the situation, just _knew _they were better than everyone around them. With good reason or not. Who didn't _care_ what happened to those they stepped on.

She knew she could never leave someone hurt if she could help it, no matter what they would do to her in return. _And_ that it would eventually crush her; mind, body, and soul.

The people that would tell her she did not do good enough, even if they were healthy due to her care: not fast enough, not perfect enough, scold her and degrade her. The people that would hate her if she was unable to help: not smart enough, not skilled enough, scream at her, curse at her. The people that would tell her that her help is unwanted: not male enough, not noble enough, sneer at her, spit at her. The people that would be ungrateful for everything she worked for: not important enough, not worthy enough, ignore her, never thank her.

She tried to explain all of this to her principal, but he reacted as though she was being overdramatic. But Sakura explained that she had seen it herself, firsthand – there was a time she had volunteered at a hospital. Not everything that happened there was good.

One was life changing in the worst of ways.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh to herself slightly, thinking that the incident couldn't have helped her faith in people much. But she also thought it was funny how, even after having heard this story and more, her principal never relented in trying to get her to change her mind. After seeing that assignment filled out for veterinary education rather than doctorial, he tried to convince her whenever they spoke.

But she was happy with what she chose, and excited to pursue veterinary medicine.

She picked up her bag from the grass beside the rock, seeing it was getting late, and smiled as all the animal movement around her instantly stopped. Shaking her head, she found it amusing how they found her safe enough while motionless, but once she moved she became a threat.

As she picked through the trees to find the road, she hunted for movement outside of her own in the dying light. The most she saw in the relatively short walk were a few confused looking chipmunks she unintentionally snuck up on.

Now safely back on the long stretch of empty dirt road, Sakura allowed her mind to wander once more. Her principal, though convinced she was throwing away something special – especially considering the intensity of the work he had been throwing at her recently – still pushed her to be her best to help her on whatever path she chose in the end.

No matter how rationally she explained, he would not accept that animals were innocent, and not helped nearly as much as they should be. That people selfishly tended to disregard them. She had conceded that, even as a vet, she would still deal with people sometimes, but they were more likely to be kinder people, having sought her out for their animals' benefit. Sakura knew he secretly agreed with her, no matter how adamant he was about being unsympathetic. He did seem to want her to be happy in the end, which was most important.

Stepping daintily with slight hops in each movement, Sakura let out a light laugh that ended with a content sigh. He would be there for her to help her succeed. Why exactly, she never really knew. But he _did_ side with her when one of his vice principals tried to keep her from graduating this coming spring, due to 'excessive absenteeism.' Sakura probably could have been valedictorian regardless of this, if girls were allowed to hold such a title. And that was the exact defense her principal had used on her behalf - she found out later from his secretary.

Looking up into the color-ridden sky, her eyes twinkled at already being able to see the moon. Things were really beginning to seem better already, and she wasn't even quite done in Sengaku yet!

Kicking something on the ground hard, it caught her foot mid-stride and made her topple to the ground. She ungracefully flapped her arms without aim, whether trying to regain her balance or catch herself, her brain hadn't yet decided. But by the end of her unintentional squeak and multiple un-ladylike grunts, she hit the floor hard.

Rubbing at her sore elbows, she looked back to see what had so easily taken her down. Creeping back, she came across the thick, dirt-encrusted links of a chain. It was bunched in a small pile, and there was something silver shining in the middle of the coils. As she crawled closer to it, it looked like a little metal block. She followed the other end of the chain with her eyes, and it disappeared into the growing shadows of the woods.

For a moment, she seriously considered seeing what was at the other end, but she didn't feel right considering the almost _violent_ feeling in the air. She couldn't really explain it, as she had never felt anything like it before, but it was definitely _not_ inviting. There was a prickling on her skin, and the hairs at the back of her neck stood at attention. So as casually as she could while scanning the area, Sakura grabbed her pack, which had fallen with her, and moved back onto the road towards home.

"Well, hello there, lost lil' genin," a deep, intimidating voice rumbled from behind her.

'_Well, speaking of people being bad…'_ She hesitated before ultimately turning, having debated on just running for it. But she thought it was probably best to at least know what she was up against. Her eyes widened and she could have sworn all of her life-sustaining functions ceased right then. _'Holy shit, I knew I didn't want to know what was on the other end of that damned chain!'_

The man was humongous; bulging with thick bunches of muscle everywhere visible. Probably everywhere _not_ visible under his shaggy clothes too, if she had to bet. In his left hand he gripped a long pole topped with a threatening, slightly curved blade. Connected to the opposite end from the blade was the mysterious chain, the portion she tripped on now gripped in the man's right hand, a few links from the end, spinning the attached weight in lazy circles.

He smiled, flashing a yellowing display of rotting teeth, and the bulk, combined with the clearly overall unhygienic appearance, combined with the _giant_ weapon, he just screamed 'bad guy.' But taking in mainly the chain, the only thought that coherently passed through her mind was, _'Fuck, that thing's made for throwing!'_

And with that, she ran with absolutely all of the force she could possibly summon to her legs.

She felt like she was flying, and was thrilled to have been fast enough to get away from the brute when another, smaller man seemed to drop from the sky in front of her. She cut her trajectory sharply, instinctually knowing that this guy was no good either. Heck, if she was wrong, she could always go back and apologize later.

But now she was running off the path, through the woods, with the plan of making a wide ark and popping back out much further down along the same road. She could sprint the rest of the way from there. The only problem was that the sun was moving ever lower in the sky, and the trees were making it seem as though it was almost nighttime already. Determined to escape, though, she just settled on tripping, stumbling, and getting whipped in the face with stray branches until her plan came to fruition.

Even over her loud rampage of an escape, she heard the braking of a large branch up ahead, followed by a dull thud and the crinkling of dried leaves. Believing it was indicative of her escape having failed, she went for stealth and looked for a place to hide. She spotted a fallen tree a short distance away, and crept carefully over to it. Preferring not to be lying down and completely vulnerable, she opted to crouch behind the huge, tangled mass of upturned roots.

She heard multiple sets of feet approaching from two directions, and felt her heart beating so rapidly she thought she might die of cardiac arrest before they even had a chance to find her. As the sounds came closer, she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from whimpering, and tried to quietly press herself as far as she could into the cocoon of roots.

As she felt tears begin to slide down her face, Sakura could truly say she was not embarrassed. She was scared _shitless_ and praying to any of the Kamis or demons or _anything_ that may be listening to _please_ not let her die today. At this first realization that she could _seriously_ lose her life within minutes, dread began to set in. She never got a chance to find out she wasn't _completely_ worthless, to find any true friends, to maybe even possibly hopefully find love…

"Ya really think pink is gonna be hidden in tha forest, girlie? The least ya coulda done, besides runnin' like a coward, is thought 'nough to suppress yer chakra. Jus' come out from behind tha' tree now."

She didn't move, having absolutely _no_ idea what this psychopath was talking about, and hoping that it was a ploy. There were trees everywhere; he could be trying to lure her out and maybe didn't know her tree was-

"The rotten one. Les' go I ain't got all night now!" He sounded more impatient, and now that she knew that there was absolutely no way he was mistaken, she was caught. How, she had no clue, they couldn't even _see_ her. But not wanting to anger him further, she decided to move. Taking two deep breaths – that ended up being shallow pants of panic – and wiping the tears from her face – which did nothing but highlight how flushed her skin was with a nice, dark contrast of dirt – she stepped out, and immediately backed up against the closest standing tree. She wasn't sure if it would be better to have open space behind her, but for now this position made it feel like they couldn't surround her.

Before Sakura stood seven men of all sizes, being the only vague detail she could make out - besides that some of them were holding very shiny weapons. Shock and terror made things like descriptions of anything, besides the obvious and _threatening_, pretty damn hard. She waited for them to speak as she searched for her own voice. She didn't have to wait long, though.

"Well hallo there, ya purty lil' thing!" Great, just great. She was going to be stolen from/murdered in cold blood, and they had to _taunt_ her too? Assholes. "What village ya from? Producin' the lil' girl types, all runnin' away an' shit." The one speaking was the same man from before, the second one to surprise her.

She had no idea what to say, not wanting them to follow her home if she escaped, so just remained still: well, shaking terribly, but her feet weren't moving. She just looked. Apparently it was infuriating, "Aright, you, now lissen up! Yer gonna tell me essactly where yer from, or-"

"'Ey boss?"

"Yeh, whadda ya want?"

"She ain't got no forehead 'tector."

"Huh, lookie that, she don't." The apparent leader observed her again, asking, "You a civilian?"

Knowing it was now or never, she went for it, "I t-think so." Not exactly all out, but a start at least.

They all laughed gruffly, and the leader said, "I'm sure y'd know if ya wern't. 'Pressive, all considerin', I gotta say."

'_Big save now, let's go, you can do it. This is it.'_ "Listen, I-I don't know w-what you all want, b-b-but I will willingly hand over a-all the money I have if you j-just let me leave in p-peace. I was just p-paid yesterday, so I h-have a considerable amount on m-m-me."

Six stayed back, all of the ones with pointy things, and the unarmed leader approached with a big smile and nod of concurrence. Sakura unlooped her bag from her shoulder and tossed it to him. All that were unarmed seemed to flinch slightly towards their midsections, and she didn't know why. All she knew was that she absolutely did _not_ want that man coming anywhere near her, so she threw it.

He looked at her oddly for a few seconds, then commenced with rifling through her stuff. Coming up with her wallet, he threw the books and other valueless things in the pack to the floor, and held a hefty handful of bills in a hand raised abouve his head with a smile. There were some cheers and wolf-whistles, and a call of, "Jackpot!"

She felt like such a fool for simply being too lazy to empty the three weeks worth of tips and her last two regular paychecks from her wallet into her stash.

That was the least of her problems at the moment though. In the space of a blink, the leader seemed to cross the five meters separating them until he was right in front of her. She didn't even have time to brace herself as he whispered in her ear, "Well, now, ain't you just a profit'ble lil' thing. Can' believe this's all hard-earned an' all, tho'. Prolly have, uh, _other_ val-u-ables on ya." And she felt his fingers on her throat. Tears began to slip unbidden once again as she thought he was going to kill her. But she realized he was fingering her necklace.

Without thinking, she just screamed, "No!" and punched him in the stomach, the closest thing to her fisted hand. When he doubled over, growling, "Why you lyin' lil-" she never got to hear what she was lying about, because she leaned back against the tree as a brace as she kicked out, hard, towards his lowered head.

When he went down, and didn't rise, everyone in the area just stared. No one moved or made a sound. Breaking herself from the trance of her own actions, she took to running once again. Instead of silence, as Sakura knew they were following her anyway, she started screaming for help. If there were any remaining shreds of goodness or luck in this world, she would be near enough to a town for someone to hear, and come to her aid.

But it was only getting darker, and she was falling more and more often. She was so petrified, waiting for that one fall that would stop her from getting up again.

It didn't matter. When she stepped passed a tree about as thick as her own body, she heard a faint chink before familiar chain links curled around her front. She saw the glint of the weight fly past her to the left, before her momentum violently changed directions. Thrown backwards, Sakura slammed into the tree as she felt the chain wrap around her body an unknown number of times. Nothing was spared for the hit: her head, spine, tailbone, even her knees felt as though they were jarred in abnormal directions.

Sakura was so dazed that she felt as though she was dreaming for a few minutes, as the men stepped from the surrounding darkness and into her line of sight. Who knew her forest was so dark and scary at night?

Thrown back into reality by the sound of their speaking, Sakura felt herself begin to shake again from shock. Everything was pinned down, arms stuck securely to her sides and wrapped snugly in rib-crushing chains from just below her breasts to mid-thigh.

"You try an' kick out with those things again, an' yer gonna lose one," The first man she encountered warned as he flashed the curved blade attached to her shackles. Nothing would change her fate now, she was dead, and she knew it. "Tha' peece a crap neck-lace ya got on sumthin' special ter ya?"

She only whispered, "Yes, please don't t-take it," too stunned to be anything more than honest.

"Well nah, we need sumthin' to make up fer it, an' fer the pain an' suffrin' ya caused our boss. He ain't lookin' to good right 'bout now."

"I'm sorry, I p-panicked. K-keep my money. P-please, just let me g-go," she couldn't even bear to open her eyes. She didn't want to see what was happening. Who knew it would end for her so ingloriously? It would be best at this point if they just took her out before it got any worse.

"We're g'nna get erry las' bit outta you we can 'fore we do tha'," he replied lowly, and the others cackled all around her. So focused on sound, she heard how different it was from before. It sounded scarier, more…

'_This is not happening, not happening, not happening! This doesn't happen, why is this happening? Oh this is it. You know you're done for, so don't let them have this! Fight with everything you got the second they give you an opportunity to move!'_

Her broken voice came out barely louder than a broken whisper as she looked over the gathered men, her emerald eyes settling on the man who chained, "You never planned on letting me go."

It wasn't a question, as she already knew. She just had to be sure.

He gripped her chin with his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to meet his eyes, as he said, "No, ma'am. No we did not," with a disgusting smile on his face.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~


	9. First Encounter

Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Naruto, but the new plot is my own.

**New Strength**

kkstev

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

"Boy, Teme, it is _so_ awesome we get to go out and work the ol' tired muscles a bit. How long you think we have before Itachi and them get back from their mission?"

Sasuke eyed Naruto as he continued to defeat the purpose of the plain black cloak and indistinguishable mask commissioned by ANBU. It seemed like with every word, he would flail his limbs in some way, flashing the disturbingly bright orange underneath. When he wasn't doing that, he was fidgeting with his mask or hood, giving peeks of shaggy yellow hair and tanned cheeks with whisker marks. Did the dobe really not _get_ how much he stood out in a crowd?

Though it was probably a bad idea to allow him to wear his regular clothing underneath the cloaks as well.

With a subtle shake of the head, Sasuke resisted swiping one of his hands down his face in annoyance, not wanting to shift his mask like the chattering irritation beside him. Though he did feel fortunate to have the gear at all. The Hokage, though respecting his decision to work for his father and the rest of the police force, felt that his skills would be wasted confined to the village permanently. So he ended up with the very awkward yet satisfying position of part-time ANBU.

"You know, you're lucky I even let us leave so early. I mean really, it's still a little light out," he looked up to the darkening sky, then scanned the treetops passing him. Sensing no one too close, he continued, "Not that we couldn't handle it, but it's dangerous for the mission. I only let it go because their team is due back pretty soon, and I _really _don't want to get caught."

Suddenly speeding up in hopping the branches, Naruto called back to Sasuke, "Oi! Don't act like you can give me permission for anything! Eat my dust, Uchiha-teme!"

Infuriated at the level of maturity, yet secretly excited to have an opportunity to act immature, Sasuke activated his sharingan on instinct. He immediately began to pursue the cloaked figure gradually disappearing from his line of sight.

After a few minutes of chasing, Sasuke found himself being chased, having passed Naruto on their makeshift track with a hearty laugh. Speed was his specialty. In what other way could he master the art of catching those nin who think themselves above the law of Konoha?

Focusing more on his surroundings, Sasuke muttered a quick, "Kuso," under his breath before braking, hard. He had to use a considerable amount of chakra to root himself to the spot, and even more to grab a hold of the blur of a person about to overtake him.

"W-" Not willing to let his best friend make a sound, Sasuke slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth area before he could speak – again. As he whipped off his mask and gave a frustrated look, Sasuke simply closed his eyes and made the chakra focusing one-handed seal. Getting a location, he whipped his head sharply to his left. Naruto caught on quickly enough, giving a nod of confirmation. He silently followed Sasuke, replacing his mask as he moved ahead.

Sasuke was able to pick out eight fairly weak chakra signatures in about a mile radius. Not wanting to be reckless considering the sensitive nature of mission the leaf shinobi were momentarily ditching, these shinobi must be considered a threat until proven otherwise.

There were two to the east, and six farther west on his other side. His and Naruto's chakras were suppressed well, he supposed, as none of these unknowns reacted to their presence.

He felt the need to curse again as one of the signatures to the east bolted suddenly, taking a northwestern direction. They were trying to surround them!

Sasuke was moments from warning Naruto until he felt his friend tense as well, and he realized communication was unnecessary. They both had come to the same conclusion. And unfortunately, no matter how up they were for a fight, there was no way that such an encounter could be risked. The ANBU made their way south in order to avoid confrontation – whether it be enemy shinobi or others from the leaf.

After a few seconds, they checked on the signatures again, halting when they surmised that they weren't being followed. Both were becoming frustrated when their instincts seemed to fail in analyzing this particular situation. All of the shinobi seemed to be converging further to the north, at the position where the first had relocated. Standing beside each other on one branch, they boys lifted their masks to converse comfortably. Both easily slipping into mission mode, Naruto asked, "What do you think? We could probably do exactly what we're both thinking without detection."

Nodding curtly, Sasuke slid his mask back down, replying, "Full stealth, full covert identities, no exceptions without mutual consent."

Naruto mirrored his movement adding, "We'll identify the leader, find out their strength, figure out their intentions, then act from there."

Without any more words exchanged, the two made off north at the same time.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

The unknowns had grouped within a manageable area by the time they arrived. At one point, some were traveling by way of the treetops, but now all were standing on the forest floor. Sasuke easily cast a genjutsu around himself and his partner so they could remain at the most favorable vantage point without exposure.

Upon thorough inspection, the scene quickly became one that they had not been expecting. Seven shinobi who appeared in alliance in some way were gathered facing a lone and clearly terrified kunoichi. But that could not quite be accurate. It was Naruto who silently conveyed one word – _civilian_. And a poorly informed one as well, from what they heard. It was mere moments before the conversation confirmed her status.

Naruto nodded in the girl's direction, in essence asking, _"Time to act?"_ Indicating a negative, Sasuke could not consent. If it was just some standard street robbers, he could not open an opportunity for their real mission to become compromised. He knew Naruto would understand, but still not agree. And though Sasuke felt a strong pull to help as well, his long-ingrained compulsion to follow the rules prevailed. Especially considering a mission so important to Konoha.

Petty bandits only stole what was on you and left anyway. It's not like the girl would lose her home or her life savings or anything like that.

So for now, they would watch. And send word to the Hokage upon their return to the camp to commission a team to purge this region of thieves. _After_ the current Konoha party left the area, of course.

Naruto slumped his shoulders at Sasuke's response, but he both expected it and understood. He really did. It just _sucked_ so _hard_ to have to sit and watch this. Especially when the grimy bastard held the money – all of which the girl had said she worked for – over his head like he had accomplished something. Naruto wanted to spit.

But it was when the guy approached her with chakra-enhanced speed and was subsequently put down for the count by the small girl that Naruto felt his hand tighten around the kunai that manifested in his hand.

Silently, partially due to surprise, the concealed duo followed the secondary chase. After cringing guiltily at her panicked screaming for help, they arrived to find the girl trapped again. They stood attentive, though this time positioned themselves closer to the action to be able to hear their words more clearly. Neither boy liked where the conversation seemed to be headed. Nor did they get a comforting feeling from the perverted laughing that echoed from the six standing men.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Nothing really felt real. Convinced the pain, the fear, and the confusion could only be due to another horrible dream she was so prone to getting, Sakura felt a slight wave of calmness. She knew, in all reality, that she was about to die in one of the most horrid manners she had never imagined, but pretending it wasn't true made it a bit easier. So she pushed her natural logic and reason on the topic to the back of her mind.

Instead, while the brutes fought about something amongst themselves that she didn't care to listen to, she thought to the heroes she idolized. The ones that were so good, so _strong_, they were only found in her books. It helped her form a plan with simply, _'What would they do right now?'_ She would make her last moments of life absolute _hell_ for these men, and try to prevent any loss of her… bodily innocence… before she was gone from this world. Or after, hoping of course that these guys weren't so sick that after she was dead…

Shivering violently, Sakura fought the urge to vomit. These thoughts would definitely _not_ help her! She needed to remain calm, and not worry about things she could not control. The situation was dire enough that it was necessary. It really didn't even matter in the end. What she required was to get them pissed off enough to kill her quickly, rather than drag it out horrifically, because she clearly could not take all of them on her own, and running had already failed.

Especially as her outward reactions just brought their attention back to her.

The second-in-command, or so she assumed, stood in front of Sakura triumphantly, his hands fisted at his hips. Two of the other men came to both sides, unwrapping the chain until there was just one stretched across her lower stomach. It was wrapped once around the tree, one man to the weight, one to the blade to keep the ends tight. It seemed they also thought it prudent for each to grind one heel into her closest knee, to keep her from kicking out with either leg.

Sakura winced at the pressure, with them seemingly trying to bend the joints the wrong way. Trying her best to ignore this and plan, she waited patiently as the current leader began moving toward her slowly, "So, yer gonna make thi' easy, or ha-" He was cut off as she landed her first strike back. She went to punch his stomach, but as he continued to move closer, he had caused her to land the hit – _lower_. As he bent forward, grabbing at his groin, Sakura realized her momentum was moving her forward as well. She ended up flipping right over the top of the chain meant to restrain her, freeing her lower half and somersaulting her to the ground. Through this process, she pushed the hurting man backwards with her weight, completely on accident. But, as off balance as he was, this little bit was enough to make him fall backwards and work to Sakura's advantage. His bulk, which was almost dead weight, landed on two of the other men behind him who had stepped up to help.

Now sitting dizzily at the base of the tree to which she had been confined, Sakura took in the damage so far, and was encouraged. The plan hadn't gone as she thought, but it was better. It just meant improvising now; so she quickly reached up and grabbed the still taught chain, pulling it down toward her chest. The jerking motion brought the two stunned brutes holding it colliding into the tree headfirst.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Sakura could feel hope blossom that she may be able to live through this.

That was, at least, until the men who had smashed the tree fell partially on her injured legs, the men who had been knocked over by their leader began to get up, and the only one still standing stalked angrily over. She didn't have time to do anything as he dragged her from the small pile of bodies and pinned her to a tree: by her throat, high enough off the ground that they were looking at one another eye-to-eye.

"Feisty, huh? I like it, might be worth keepin' for a while. _Properly _restrained of course." He growled and gave her a twisted smirk as he squeezed tighter at her throat to emphasize his words. Losing the oxygen to her system and now-failing brain, she felt tears leaking from her eyes as she clawed weakly at his hand. Closing her eyes tightly, she realized the extra spurt of survival adrenaline had completely worn off from earlier.

'_I've made it worse, it's all going to be so much worse.'_

Even as he dropped her limp body to the ground, seconds before she would have lost consciousness, this one line was the only thinks she could think. In a vain attempt to protect herself, she curled her body in as tight of a ball as she could. Everything that had happened in her favor when downing the men was pure _luck_. Sakura knew that, but had thought Kami-sama had taken pity on her and given her a chance.

With all of them now _really_ knowing what to expect, there was no chance of another opening. She could never win a fair fight with any one of them one-on-one, never mind in a group.

Sakura just awaited the pain and misery that was to be inflicted as she heard the flurry of movement from the thieves.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

When it came down to it, Sasuke was much more impulsive than Naruto. People just tended to focus on the blonde's tendency because he felt the need to shout his idiocy for anyone who would listen. It was the only explanation Sauske had for flying through the air, katana drawn, with Naruto following closely behind him.

They had worked together enough to need no verbal interaction, yet still know what to do. Sasuke, the faster of the two, went straight for the shinobi holding the girl. The shinobi dropped her to the ground immediately once he reached him. The pair had had hope once she caught them all off guard once again, but Sasuke quickly came to the conclusion that even if she incapacitated all of them temporarily, she appeared too injured to run and escape successfully. They hadn't even particularly worried about the kusarigama that the second flaunted to strike fear in her. It was more of a weapon to disable other weapons, or people apparently, though its chain had proved problematic in this situation.

It was that she almost lost her ability to respond to their advances, and what these twisted shits really intended to do, that did it for him. He didn't want her so vulnerable, consequences be damned. If Naruto thought she deserved saving just from being in distress, Sasuke thought it was because she proved herself worthy of it. She fought back to the best of her ability, and the leaf shinobi present were going to reward her for it. He just could not let them knock her out so she would be unable to fight back.

As Sasuke did his part, Naruto executed his. The stronger of the pair in terms of downright power, Naruto took the two who were working to stand. Though the timing was not something he was thrilled with – it would have been better if they had stepped in _earlier_ – Naruto was satisfied with taking these assholes on. Sasuke knew he already wanted to move, so when the black haired man leapt from their hiding spot, Naruto was only too happy to take that as consent to his earlier request.

How could these guys have been trained in the ways of the shinobi, and choose to use their skills for things so horrible he was reluctant to even think about it?

This type of thing was something even _he_ was wary of whether he could ever really fix in this world. These were acts of pure selfishness and self-appeasement, regardless of its effect on others. Greed, in its worst form.

Plus, the girl did _nothing_ wrong. At least not to these guys. Being an excellent judge of character, Naruto couldn't imagine this girl having done anything to _anyone_ for that matter. And definitely not anything horrible enough to deserve retribution in the way _they_ had planned.

For the second time, Naruto cleared his thoughts as best as possible. He was a bit nauseated by the whole situation. As shinobi, and ANBU no less, he knew about and even saw these things more than he was happy about.

But for now, he just wanted to enjoy the pummeling he and his best friend were dishing out to the rest of these monsters.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

There was nothing but the rustling of leaves and the slight clank of the chain. Sakura waited for the sounds to draw nearer, but when they never did, curiosity fought against her fear.

She tried a couple of times to open her eyes, but failed. So she just continued to listen, to hopefully figure out what might be happening next, and ideally gain the courage needed to open her eyes. But the little movement she heard softened quickly until it completely stopped. There was nothing but the echoing of a tree frog somewhere in the distance.

Then, suddenly… _'Arguing? Well that seems weird…'_ But it was the only thing she could figure. It sounded like a whispered argument, where she caught random words here and there. Things like, 'custody,' 'mission,' and 'leaf' seemed to be thrown around the most by what she could make out, but she had no idea what that could mean.

And why were they all of a sudden so worried about her hearing them?

She cracked open one eye and made out two new, black cloaked figures. With their backs towards her, facing her ex-captors, the feeling they were emitting was terrifying, yet another one that she couldn't explain in words. But Sakura also noted that the thieves were all confined to the tree she had been imprisoned to in very much the same manner.

So then were they taking them into custody, or her?

Was saving her their mission, did they have another, or were they going against their mission by helping her?

Did they… were they… are leaves, um, important to them?

Sakura continued staring at the figures and huffed slightly at her own ridiculousness on the last question. 'Leaf' definitely was something vital to these people, but she doubted they were some environmentalists who thought they were _pretty_.

It seemed their disagreement was coming to a conclusion, as they both turned to her at the same time, giving her no more time for thought. Even in the almost non-existent light, Sakura could still see the terrifying masks they wore. They looked like the white of bones, streaked with red in random patterns.

Blood and bones. Death personified.

They seemed to glow eerily in the darkness, and she couldn't hold back a whimper as they approached.

Immediately, both figures stopped, and looked at each other. They seemed to communicate something before one stepped forward and crouched down to her level. From beneath the cloak came a black sleeved and gloved hand, one that made Sakura flinch.

She heard a light sigh, but the hand didn't move. A muffled voice came from behind the mask, and Sakura abruptly thought 'male.' It was comforting somewhat, as assigning a gender made them seem more human.

Less Grim Reaper.

"We stopped the bad guys for ya, so why would we hurt you? We just wanna help." Though fairly quiet, Sakura got the impression that the man was smiling behind the mask. Also, some small part of her noticed, that heavy, deadly feeling in the air had faded at some point after they approached her. Weird.

As he seemed to offer his hand again, Sakura nodded reluctantly and took it. She really was in no position to argue. Plus she thought she might be in a bit of shock. He helped her sit up, and the three just stared at each other as the crickets started chirping around them.

She eyed their masks, and looked warily up at the one still standing. With a barely-noticeable inclination of the crouching one's head, the other came and sat before her on the forest floor. Relaxing slightly, Sakura found herself blurting out, "Are you people?"

There was quiet for a split second before the first to speak burst out laughing, while the other just seemed to stare at her. The laughing one, 'One' she dubbed in her mind, practically yelled, "Of course we are! Why would ya think we weren't?"

As he quieted, she asked, "Well, then why are you wearing those masks?"

"Oh, that?" One responded, "Well that's because-"

"Gomen nasai, but we cannot tell you that," Two answered, speaking for the first time. The voice was deeper, and a little scarier, but still muffled like the other. Also male, she concluded.

"So, then… you can't tell me your names?" She asked, but Two simply shook his head. She tired again, "Why you're here? Or why you saved me?" This time, he didn't even shake his head, he just continued to – or so she assumed with the mask – stare at her. She took all of this as a negative.

Swallowing heavily, Sakura looked to the ground. Though she was quite tired of sounding like a small child questioning the world around her, she still had to ask, "Maybe what you plan on doing with me, then?"

This time, Two did answer, "We will escort you to the edge of the forest so you may return home safely."

One burst in again, calling, "Yo, Te- uh, I mean, um, yeah," he raised his arm toward the back of his neck, but stopped when his hand touched his hood. Lowering his arm, he restarted, "What I meant was, why don't we take her all the way home, huh?"

Two looked at him, and seemed to shake his head in annoyance, not that Sakura could really tell the reason, but she guessed. Especially since his answering voice sounded a little different – chastising, maybe? Either way, she felt slightly better hoping that her ordeal would soon be over. 'Home' really had never sounded better. She would be alive, and would be going _home_.

"I do not believe she would want that," Two looked at her, "If I may, I presume you would not be agreeable to us knowing exactly where your residence is, nor your village." She had to say, the man was polite, and honestly, he was _right_. Even though things seemed better, and they saved her, she did not trust these people. Sure, they helped her, but they would not even let her see their faces, never mind know their names. It was clear they were hiding something. And if they were working so hard to do so, she could keep a few things to herself as well, like where she lived.

Plus, what if they wanted to come back for her? As it was, they could probably just follow from a distance, regardless of what they _said _they were going to do.

Sakura nodded slightly in agreement, blushing a bit at how rude she was being to her saviors, despite of her solid logic on the matter. Her eyes made their way to the chained bandits, "And them?"

"Will be dealt with, _appropriately_," Two sounded _pissed_.

One followed her eyes, and added, "They are so fucking screwed it's not even funny." Sakura didn't know what it was, but something about One shifted just then – he no longer seemed like the less threatening of the pair. There was something just _daunting_ about him. But with the minor repositioning of one of Two's feet in the leaves, One snapped back to his former persona. The two masks faced each other, communicating telepathically for all Sakura knew, before the tension was released again and One nodded.

Two stood and made his way back to the men while One helped a cautious Sakura up on shaky legs. She saw Two do something peculiar with his hands, before he stepped forward and snatched her bag from one of their packs. He turned his back on them, then handed Sakura her belongings, "Be sure everything is there before we leave."

She thought he sounded a little demanding, maybe even mean, but she was still in no position to argue. He _was_ helping her. So she sorted through her things and was pleasantly surprised to find everything, even her money. She nodded, accompanied by the first smile she gave in a while, and they took that as her affirmative to move.

One kept his arm around Sakura's waist to help her pick her way through the forest, and though extremely uncomfortable with it, she was eternally grateful. Everything seemed to hurt, and if it didn't hurt, it was at least sore. Her body was just in an overall unpleasant state, but she did find some relief once they emerged on the deserted road.

She looked up at the sky once the barrier of trees was thinner. The moon and stars were still twinkling merrily, as though nothing extraordinary had happened that night. They hadn't changed, but she knew _she_ had. Sakura was unsure of what it was just yet, but she knew it would probably hit her hard tomorrow.

For now though, she allowed herself to feel safe with her saviors. Next to them, and under the steadfast moon and stars, she felt the beginning of the stirrings of her own inadequacies.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura did her best to move steadily towards home, mysterious and clearly powerful men flanking her on either side.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

Neither of them really knew what to say to this girl. They had saved her, and her attackers were restrained – physically and by genjutsu – to be taken back to the Leaf for judgement, but they couldn't leave her alone while she was injured. For all their valiant acts, they were now stuck unsurely with this completely awkward silence.

Plus, she didn't appear to be faring well walking on her own. She had a slight limp on her right leg, and still appeared slightly disoriented. But the girl was trying to hide her struggling to keep up with them even at their highly decreased pace, never saying anything indicating she wished them to slow for her.

They both felt bad about not being able to tell her anything about themselves. Naruto had come close to saying Teme's name – even though it wasn't his real name, _everyone _knew Teme was a teme – and more than once he was close to ripping off his mask to speak with her face to face.

And Sasuke knew that, though they helped her, she was distrustful that they were so secretive. He was trying to converse with her as best he knew how, but was irritated that he could not speak more freely.

They were careful about even giving her their codenames, in case it somehow got out. Konoha had a higher tendency than the other villages to use animal codenames for their ANBU. There was no being _too_ safe in this situation about keeping the presence of Leaf ANBU quiet.

And they could tell the girl was still scared, just simply complying with the only feasible option she had.

At the girl's abrupt stop, both shinobi halted their feet and thoughts, and turned back to look at her. She hung her head, and was staring at her interlaced fingers. Naruto made to reach back to comfort her, but figured he really should not. So he waited, along with Sasuke, for what exactly she planned on doing.

Her voice was weak, and barely there as they heard, "Gomen nasai, I don't know how I could have overlooked it, but, but… _arigatou_," she looked up at them at this point, and shifted her eyes between their masks as though seeking some eye contact. "I-I don't know if you realize it, but, well, you did more than just save my life tonight. And I have no real way to thank you."

She didn't know it, but both boys smiled behind their masks. Naruto decided to relax a little, and placed his arm around her shoulders, "No problem! We like to help, and we're glad you're safe and sound!" She was still nervous, but she still attempted to smile up at him.

It appeared the girl was becoming more comfortable, though still rightfully cautious. She started walking again, and it seemed as though she very much wanted to trust them, as she began trying to make conversation normally, "Arigatou, again. And, uh, just so you know, my name is Sakura."

Sasuke noticed he didn't provide a family name, and was satisfied at her forethought on the matter. It did not seem to faze Naruto though, as he exclaimed, "What a pretty name, Sakura-chan! I'm Na- happy to meet you! Did your parents name you Sakura-chan because of your cute pink hair, because you do know your hair is pink, right? Is it naturally like that? Or is it black like this?" he asked as he lifted a strip of black near the front.

Sakura chuckled at his excitement and super-speed takling, and proved willing to answer these types of questions. She smiled, and said, "I'm glad to meet you too, uh, hm, Koujinbutsu," as she giggled, assumedly at the name, Naruto beamed outside of her view, "and hai, I _do_ know my hair is both pink _and_ black. Believe it or not, the pink is straight from my head, but the black is from a box."

Naruto seemed confused for a moment, as he was quiet, so Sasuke stepped in while rolling his covered eyes, "Hair dye, she means black hair dye."

"Oh!" he caught on now, "Why would you dye your really cool hair a different color? You don't like it or something? Because I think it's beautiful!"

Sasuke noticed her smile die a little bit, but she still held the last traces of it as best as she could. She seemed to think a little bit, then responded, "No, I actually don't have a problem with my hair, dying it just seemed, well, fitting. Still does, actually…"

Her trailed off statement could be interpreted a few ways, and Sasuke oddly found himself wondering exactly what she meant. Even more unusual was that he found himself commenting, "It's interesting. An unusual combination of colors."

She smiled again as she looked at Sasuke's covered face, and laughed once, though Sasuke could tell there was no humor in it, "Hai, I know, what can I say? I just love being unique, Kimajime." At this she smiled wider in his direction, as Sasuke cocked his head slightly to the side. He understood the giant, but polite, 'back off this topic' stamped over her words, and respected her wishes. Though the fact that the topic of her _hair_ became such a serious one was beyond his understanding, he chalked it up to not comprehending women as a whole.

Meanwhile, Naruto was nearly doubling over in laughter, repeating, "'Kimajime!' Oh man, Sakura-chan, did you ever hit _that _nail on the head!" As he was gasping for breath, he added, "But if you _really _want serious, you should meet his brother!"

Sasuke growled, "What part of 'anonymous' do you _not_ understand?"

Sakura held her hand in front of her mouth as she tried to stifle a giggle. Naruto answered, "Uh, all of it?"

Still laughing slightly, Sakura whispered behind her hand, "I'm not supposed to know who you are, Koujinbutsu, and you just told me about your partner's family."

Naruto threw up his hands, and rolled his eyes, Sasuke could just _tell_. "Really, _Kimajime_?" he emphasized the name Sakura had used, "A _lot_ of people have brothers!"

Not even caring about the mask anymore, Sasuke slapped his gloved palm to his face (though it never moved from his proper place). His best friend was such an _idiot_.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

The walk was nicer than she had expected. From the little bit about the men that Sakura could tell, they seemed to be genuinely nice people who were just doing her a favor. They seemed to feel that they had the power to help and did so.

They chatted for much of the way, and it was almost like the thieves had never happened. Her companions became more human at time passed, and she felt herself talking fairly easily with them. Which for her, was definitely a feat in itself.

One, or Koujinbutsu as she called him, even disappeared into the woods for a moment and emerged with a solid walking stick for her to use to finish her trek home. With all that had happened after, Sakura had actually considered allowing them to escort her the remainder of the way, but quickly chastised herself for even considering being so irresponsible.

So, with a wave and a final, profuse thanks at the town outside the forest's edge, she left the masked men.

Nearly stumbling into her dark home, she clumsily made her way to her room. Hito was already there, sitting by her bed and whining. She sat on the edge by him, patting his head as she slumped her back tiredly. Sakura felt her breath suddenly stutter, she shuddered harshly, and before she knew it she was curled up on the bed, balling her eyes out at the night's events.

~-~-~-o-~-~-~

**You may not know:**

kusarigama : weapon that is a sickle with the base attached to a chain with a weight at the end of the chain. The weight is normally thrown to tangle and incapacitate weapons while the sickle is used to destroy the opponent wielding it

koujinbutsu : nice person

kimajime : too serious of a person


	10. Alert!

Hey there everyone! I usually hate when authors do this, but I figure it has been so long since I've updated that you can't really hate me much more than you already do!

Okay so here is the deal - I have actually been writing for this story on and off, but it has been all out of order, different scenes that I knew I wanted, and interested me at the time of writing. The plan for the storyline has hence changed because of this - though the idea and major plot point have remained unchanged - but it is definitely for the better. I want to change a lot about the format and how I move through it, but I am not familiar enough with this website to know how to do so successfully.

So, from the more experienced authors on the site, help! I don't know if I should pull the story and restart, or just pull the chapters and start reposting so that followers of the story don't get lost (and most of my response was from followers, so it would definitely be a loss!) But I also don't know if that could be frowned upon - I really just have no clue.

Basically any advice would be fantastic. Thank you guys so much!


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